Wolves v Brighton - Match preview

In his first opportunity to manage a game in front of the home fans, O’Neil must find a way to turn Wolves’ numerous chances at Old Trafford into goals, and a duo of Matheus Cunha and Fabio Silva could be the answer.

Cunha put in an outstanding display on Monday night – potentially his best in a Wolves shirt – but failed to convert any of his big chances.

Silva came off the bench and had three shots inside the box blocked, as the team chased an equaliser.

Cunha had previously been nursing a small knock and was unable to play 90 minutes, meaning he did not play alongside Silva at Old Trafford, but their individual performances in that game and the prospect of their link-up play could solve Wolves’ goalscoring issues against the Seagulls.

Looking to build off a strong performance, O’Neil now needs to take the game to Brighton and give the Molineux crowd a reason to get behind the team.

Fans have also been clamouring for Silva to get more game time, and a partnership with Cunha holds a lot of promise.

Fellow striker Sasa Kalajdzic could also be a good option, after making his return from a serious knee injury off the bench against United. O’Neil said: “He’s worked very hard. It’s still early in the process of him coming back and that will be monitored daily and weekly in seeing where we can get him to.

“If I put real thought into whether he could start or last 90 minutes – no. Do I think he’s usable and can we get something out of him? Definitely. So we’ll keep working with him, he’s given absolutely everything, he looks keen and like he wants to make an impact. We’ll judge where he is and speak to the fitness coaches to make sure we have his best interests at heart as well because it’s not about throwing him in before he’s ready.

“So we’ll work really hard with him to make sure he’s in a safe area fitness wise and then we can push him harder.”

O’Neil has also been pushing the rest of the group harder in training sessions, as he looks to improve the squad’s overall fitness.

He added: “They’ve had quite a tough pre-season, duration-wise, and we’ve had a tough couple of days. They seemed to find it quite tough. I don’t want to speak for them too much, they worked hard but it seemed they could feel it a little. Which is to be expected with the different things we do, but I think they’re in a good place. I’ve watched the games they’ve played and they look fit, ready to go.

“Can we get them fitter? Probably. But as is the process in any season, you always get fitter and it progresses to a certain point. They’re in a good spot fitness-wise, but as with everything we can always improve it.”