Don Goodman: Wolves' medical staff deserve credit

Wolves have remarkably had no players sustain serious injuries since Nuno arrived at Molineux two years ago.

They finished seventh in the Premier League last term, sealing Europa League qualifiers, with just 19 senior outfield players.

And ex-forward Goodman – who made 125 appearances for Wolves in a four-year spell – said: "You have to give enormous credit to the people behind the scenes, the physios and the sports scientists who analyse all of the data.

"They prepare the team to be able to give maximum effort, week in and week out.

"They need enormous credit for that because we're in a world where teams like Manchester City have two world class players in every position and can manage those scenarios.

"For Wolves to do what they've done, with such a small squad, is commendable. And Nuno has managed them perfectly."

Head of medical Phil Hayward and his team have now assigned the players individual programmes to follow over the summer in order to stay in excellent shape.

Nuno has previously said the players deserve a lot of credit, as well as the staff, for how they follow medical advice down to a tee.

Goodman, meanwhile, says he and his old Wolves team-mates had top-notch care too through the mid to late 90s.

On what they had and the treatment players have now, he added: "You can't compare, really, because they didn't have the tools the modern medical departments have got.

"But when I look at what (physio) Dave Hancock went to achieve, we were quite lucky.

"He went on to work for Leeds, Blackburn, Chelsea, England – and then went off to work for (basketball team) New York Knicks.

"We had one of the best in the country, even though we didn't know it at the time.

"There was nothing wrong with the medical department back when I was playing. They did fantastic things at the time.

"Science has changed and the athleticism of players has changed now, so the current crop have done a fantastic job, but I wouldn't compare it to when I was playing."