Liam Keen comment: Wolves miss big opportunity with disappointing defeat

With some momentum and positive performances coming into the fixture, the chance to create more daylight in the relegation battle with a Molineux clash should have been mouth-watering for Wolves.

Instead, a fatigued side slumped to defeat without hardly laying a glove on their opponents.

Strength of the bench

Wolves ended the winter transfer window in a much healthier place but injuries have now caught up to them.

Losing Hwang Hee-chan, Emmanuel Agbadou, Rodrigo Gomes and Goncalo Guedes has left Vitor Pereira with limited options.

The head coach admitted he could not start Jorgen Strand Larsen due to fear of him breaking down with another injury, while Pablo Sarabia was the only other senior forward option on the bench and he was joined by 17-year-old Mateus Mane.

Fulham, in contrast, had several senior players on the bench to call upon and that certainly made a big difference in the second half.

However, both managers had decisions to make on their starting XIs and it was Pereira's choice to name an unchanged side.

Marco Silva made five changes, seemingly weakening his side, but managed the fixture and his squad well to get the most out of them.

In addition, Pereira's decision to keep Marshall Munetsi on the pitch and take off Jean-Ricner Bellegarde seems misguided in hindsight.

Bellegarde was offering good end product and plenty of good crosses, while Munetsi was struggling.

The injuries have certainly hurt this squad, but Pereira will also need to get the most out his available players in the coming weeks ahead of some crucial fixtures.

No Bueno

Losing Agbadou to a hamstring injury was a major blow and Fulham took advantage of that by targeting Santi Bueno's weaknesses.

The Uruguayan is by no means a bad footballer and he has useful qualities - plenty of which he showed in the win over Bournemouth - but he struggles with the physicality of the Premier League.

Fulham knew that and made sure striker Rodrigo Muniz pulled on to him, isolated him and battled him.

The opening goal comes from a big Nelson Semedo mistake that leaves Ryan Sessegnon free, but it begins with Muniz holding the ball up and keeping Bueno at bay. If that was Agbadou, he probably deals with it one way or another.

The second goal showed Bueno's other weakness, his pace and positioning. One through ball from Adama Traore has Muniz in and Bueno is scrambling to recover to no avail.

Agbadou had a poor game against Liverpool when he picked up his injury, but has otherwise been a revelation since he signed in January.

The drop in quality when he is not available is stark and it comes back to the issue of strength in depth.

Unless Nasser Djiga is given a chance - and improves on his shaky debut against Bournemouth - Bueno will start the foreseeable games and Wolves must account for his shortcomings.

Overreliance

Matheus Cunha is a wonderfully talented player, potentially world class, and arguably one of the best in the Premier League.

But in these very pages after an opening day defeat to Arsenal this season, Wolves' overreliance on Cunha was discussed and few things have changed since.

He is very clearly Wolves' best player, but the team needs answers when he is not at his best. He is capable of pulling them out of trouble, but cannot be depended upon to do so every time.

Cunha had a good first half against Fulham and was regularly involved in Wolves' attacks, but he came out in the second half and seemed distracted.

We all saw the same Cunha that we saw for several games in January, when the saga surrounding his contract and the transfer window was raging on.

Petulant, critical of team-mates and with more terrible body language. This time Pereira did not call him out after the game, but the head coach will not be happy with what he saw.

From a footballing perspective, the distractions seem to have gone and the player got the contract he wanted, but he still put in that second half display.

Cunha has to be better, but equally, Wolves cannot expect him to put in a flawless performance every week.

Pereira needs answers from the whole squad and in the summer when Cunha departs, the club must ensure they are not beholden to one individual player again.

It is a team game for a reason and Wolves will need them to pull together to survive relegation.