Wolves Face Injury Setbacks with Trippier and Mosquera Out

Wolves have been dealt an early-season defensive blow with confirmation that Kieran Trippier suffered a knee ligament injury on his league debut.

The 35-year-old right-back, signed on a free transfer in June, damaged the medial collateral ligament (MCL) in his left knee during Friday’s 2-2 draw with Blackburn Rovers. The club expect him to be sidelined “for a number of weeks”, cutting short the momentum of a much-anticipated start to his Wolves career almost as soon as it began.

Trippier wasn’t the only casualty from that game.

Yerson Mosquera also faces time out after picking up an ankle problem against Blackburn. The 25-year-old defender has a slight tear in his ankle ligaments and is set to miss several weeks, leaving Wolves short of options at the back just as the season begins to settle into rhythm.

There is at least some light for Gary O’Neil’s staff in a gloomy injury bulletin.

Director of performance Phil Hayward delivered a more positive update on winger Rafiki Said, whose Wolves journey started in brutal fashion. The 26-year-old summer signing suffered a high-grade MCL injury in a pre-season friendly against Maidenhead United last month, only 11 days after joining the club.

Hayward revealed Said has now shed his brace and is progressing well.

“Rafiki's been working very hard in the gym for the last few weeks with his brace on. He's now out of the brace and the most recent scan looks great, so he's heading, certainly, in the right direction,” Hayward said.

The news is steadier elsewhere in the squad. Goalkeeper Sam Johnstone is about a week away from full fitness, according to Hayward, while Haiti international midfielder Jean-Ricner Bellegarde is expected to be another couple of weeks from rejoining full first-team training.

Wolves, then, enter the next stretch of the campaign juggling absences and returns, hoping the worst of their injury turbulence has already passed.