Fabio Silva backed to deliver goals for Wolves

Silva’s strike in Tuesday’s 5-0 Carabao Cup win over Blackpool was just his fifth for Wolves since joining in a £35million move from Porto three years ago and his first for his parent club since May, 2021.

The 21-year-old has endured a difficult start to the season after missing good chances in Premier League matches against Brighton and Everton but head coach O’Neil has no concerns about his mentality. “He has been fine,” said the boss. “I speak to the players a lot about being able to fully commit to the next action.

“You put what has happened behind you, whether it went well or didn’t. With Fabio, I don’t care what happened with the last chance because you need to be fully focused on the next one. Will he miss chances? Definitely. As long as he keeps being ready and being fully committed to the next one that gives him the best chance. Fabio’s confidence is fine, as far as I’m aware.

“Confidence is a funny thing. It can change quickly and some people can look confident when they are not and Fabio, the way he keeps arriving in those areas the energy in his performance, tells me he is in a good spot mentally.”

Silva fired home in the 25th minute to double Wolves’ lead against the Seasiders, after Sasa Kalajdzic had earlier opened the scoring.

The night was then capped by a debut goal for 18-year-old striker Nathan Fraser, after Matt Doherty had netted twice on his second debut for the club. While all five goals carried significance, Silva’s felt particularly important considering his importance to the attack following the summer exits of Diego Costa and Raul Jimenez.

“I was keen for him to get one, of course,” continued O’Neil. “His movement was good again. He arrived into some good situations. I’m confident he will get enough goals. His finishing is good in training.

“I see my job as helping the lads to keep arriving in those areas. It is hard for me to make them kick it in the goal but if I can make them arrive there as much as we are, the amount of chances we are getting hopefully we will manage to take enough. Fabio’s was a decent finish on Tuesday evening and one of many good performances.”

In a further boost, O’Neil revealed Hwang Hee-chan could be fit enough to feature in Sunday’s match at Crystal Palace. The South Korea international was forced off early in last weekend’s win at Everton with a hamstring issue.