Wolves defender Willy Boly hailed after ‘seamless’ return

The defender made his comeback from a broken fibula in the 0-0 draw at Manchester United on Saturday.

Boly picked up the injury slipping in training after Wolves’ 2-1 Europa League win at Slovan Bratislava on October 24.

He slotted in on the right next to Coady at Old Trafford – and the skipper was impressed by the Frenchman’s performance.

He said: “We said when he got injured how big a miss he would be.

“He slotted straight back in and is a fantastic footballer.

“He is a brilliant person too to move forward in the team.

“You saw what he did on Saturday.

“He did exactly what he did before he got injured.

“He is a fantastic person to come back in.

“It’s not an easy game to come into either.

“He was brilliant and he does that every single game – you know what you are going to get from him. He has been a big miss since he has been injured, so to have him back is a huge thing for this football club.”

Boly celebrated his 29th birthday with the rest of Wolves’ squad in Marbella as they jetted out for their warm weather training camp last night.

The defender’s return coincided with Wolves picking up their first league clean sheet since the 2-0 win over West Ham at the start of December.

That was their only Premier League clean sheet during Boly’s lay-off and Coady felt it was no coincidence.

The skipper had stressed the need for defensive improvements after the 2-1 defeat top league leaders Liverpool.

And he explained what they had worked on during the nine-game gap before the Old Trafford draw.

He said: “Being closer together, making sure we were close, making sure we go back to covering around each other as much as possible.

“Making sure we were not too far away.

“I think they are the most important things because if you start creating gaps, especially at places like United, people are going to hurt you.

“It is important we got back to that and you saw it with the way we played.

“We were more organised, together a little bit more and Willy Boly was fantastic coming in.

“It is a pleasure to have him back.”

But Coady says it was not just about the defence as he looks to build on that point when they host Leicester on February 14.

He said: “It was not just the back five it was the whole team.

“A clean sheet is massive for us moving forward and we are really looking forward to Leicester now.”