An injury expert has now dropped a 'hopeful' Wolves claim involving Ruben Neves.

The Lowdown: Not as serious

Speaking to the media, Bruno Lage revealed that Neves' injury setback was 'not as serious' as they initially expected.

[web_stories_embed url="https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/all-the-latest-from-wolves-2/" title="All the latest from Wolves!" poster="" width="360" height="600" align="none"]

The Portugal international has been missing since March, but will now be hoping to make a swift recovery in time to play the final few games of the season.

The Latest: Dinnery reacts

Speaking to Football Insider, Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in both medicine and data analysis, has claimed that he is still 'hopeful' that Neves will return in 'early to mid-May', despite this 'new info' from Lage:

“My understanding initially hasn’t changed a great deal even with this new info.

“We’re talking about an MCL here. The indication that it was a grade two.

“I was working on the premise that we could maybe see a return around early to mid-May. I am still fairly hopeful that is the case.

“It happened against Leeds. He tried to continue but he couldn’t. He then went out to Portugal for some rehab and recovery.

“The target was always going to be around game week 35. I think there is a strong possibility that he’ll play again this season somewhere around there.”

The Verdict: Big boost

The fact that Neves' injury is not as serious as previously expected, and that he could return for the last few matches of the campaign, is certainly a big boost for the Midlands club.

He currently ranks as their fourth-best performer in the Premier League so far, scoring four goals and making two assists, while also picking up two man-of-the-match awards (WhoScored).

The 25-year-old also ranks highly among his teammates in terms of average tackles, interceptions, shots, passes, long and through balls per game (WhoScored), and will clearly be an important player for them if they are to finish the season strongly, and potentially challenge for a European place.

In other news, find out which 'electric' star the Wanderers now 'want' to sign here!