Sky Sports’ Joe Thomlinson believes that Nathan Collins will be a major miss for Wolves during his three-game suspension.
The £20.5m summer signing had started every single game this season up until he was sent off for a high boot on Jack Grealish, which earned him a three-game suspension from Premier League action.
Collins had seemingly won the trust rather of his now-former manager, Bruno Lage, so it will be interesting to see whether or not he keeps his spot in the heart of defence under whoever Wolves decide to appoint as their new boss.
Thomlinson, who was speaking on the Football Daily YouTube channel prior to Lage’s sacking, admitted that Collins would be a big loss for Wolves.
He said: “I want to highlight Nathan Collins to start with. I think he’s had a really, really good start to the season. Other than the crazy karate kick on Jack Grealish, which is going to put him out for a few weeks and I expect Wolves to suffer because of it, I think his impact can not be underestimated.”
Has Collins been Wolves' best summer signing?
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TIF Thoughts on Collins’ impact at Wolves…
It was evident on Saturday evening that Collins’ absence was going to have a major ripple effect throughout the Wolves team as they shipped two goals for only the third time this season and deployed Ruben Neves as a centre-back.
While Collins’ absence forced Neves – who has created the second-most shot-creating actions out of any Wolves player this season – to play as a centre-back, impacting the Midlands side massively, it will be interesting to see what their new manager decides to do in the Republic of Ireland international’s absence.
It’s a testament to Collins and how well he’s adapted to top-flight football having only made 18 appearances in the Premier League before his Wolves debut, but neither that nor his hefty price tag appears to be weighing him down.