Bruno Lage trusts Wolves board to get him the players he needs

Wolves kick off their Premier League campaign with a handful of injuries and a relatively light squad, with supporters calling for additions before the end of the month.

Lage said last week that he was targeting three or four players for his first team, but he is still waiting.

When asked if he is happy with the support the board are giving him, he said: “Yes, I am very happy. It was the right club to come to and we are on the same page.

“The club wants to take a step forward and so do I. We are on the same page in this process.

“If we have a chance, we want to start the season with all the players and the squad we dream for, but it’s a long process. I have a three-year contract.

“It’s my ambition in these three years to take a step forward.”

When asked if he is confident of bringing in three or four more players, Lage added: “Yes. We cannot forget what the board and chairman did for the club. For four years it was amazing, they did very well.

“The club came from the Championship to the Premier League, so now it’s the next step.

“The first guys I want to see on the pitch are the guys with injury problems, so they will be our first players to come help us be a competitive squad.

“I’m talking with the board and they already know the profile for the players we want. They already know the positions we want. I trust them. The fans can trust in them too. If you look back at these four years, they did very well.

“We know what we need to do to be a better and competitive team. I want a competitive squad to be competitive every day in training. We already have targets.

“I trust in the people because they trust in me. Now is the time to trust in our board.

“That’s the promise I said to the fans, I want a competitive team.

“If I have a solution or a kid in the under-23s with good potential, that is a good thing here. I want two competitive players in each position.”

Meanwhile, Lage has revealed that Daniel Podence has begun some training with the rest of the team.

The winger was suffering with a groin issue last season and had surgery in May, before working on rehabilitation over the summer. He has not taken part in any pre-season games but has now made a small step into training, with a timeline now set for his return.

Lage said: “He’s started training, doing the warm-ups with the team.

“He needs to do a proper pre-season, so maybe three or four weeks, and he will be ready to come back.

“Daniel is the only one who has started a little bit with the team. The others stay with the medical department. I don’t know how long (Willy Boly and Yerson Mosquera will be) but they are still there. All teams suffer some injuries. It’s a short period and we don’t have too much time to prepare the team. They are working with the medical department.”

Raul Jimenez’s return from his fractured skull injury has been one of the feel-good stories of Wolves’ summer, with the striker looking sharp in pre-season.

And for Lage, watching the player comeback from such an horrific injury has been enjoyable.

“When I saw the images (of the injury) it was shocking,” he said. “These kind of things can happen and when they do we start to think about life and the meaning of life.

“After we see him in training every day and he wants to play. In the last six weeks I see him every day with a happy smile and great ambition to come back and play again.”

Lage continued: “When I was in Benfica and I created the profile for the striker I wanted, the people there said the name you want was here and we sold him to Wolves. It was Raul.

“When I came here, the first impressions from him were that he is a top player and a top man.

“I am very happy to work with him and after his return he is happy because he will play again. The fans of Wolves are happy.”