Wolves striker Raul Jimenez is now wearing protective headgear in training as he continues his recovery from a serious head injury sustained back in November.
A collision with Arsenal’s David Luiz left the Mexican with a fractured skull that required surgery and the forward has recently started participating in light training with the squad.
Jimenez is still some way from returning to first team action and no decision has been made on whether he’ll wear the headgear in matches.
“It’s a protective head gear that he uses during the training sessions and something that prevents any kind of contact on the skull,” Nuno said ahead of his side’s Premier League clash with Liverpool on Monday night.
“It’s not decided yet if it’s going to be for when he returns to competitions but now it’s a better approach for him to be more involved in the training sessions.”
Jimenez has long been an integral player for Nuno since his arrival in 2018, scoring 27 goals in all competitions last season and three goals in the 10 league appearances this season prior to his injury.
His presence around the squad, despite not participating in full team training, is a huge lift among the squad.
“It’s a big lift. He’s a fantastic boy,” Nuno said. “With the serious situation that he’s faced and the doubts, it was clear that he never doubted.
“He’s always positive, he’s always with a smile, he’s always engaged to do things and that by itself is a big lift when you see someone that is so positive about it all, Raul is amazing.”
Wolves have won just three of their last ten Premier League games and sit 12th in the table, but Nuno is aware that Jimenez alone will not solve their poor form.
“We need much more than Raul being able to train with us, we need much more, we need to improve players, we need to improve our game.
“I think having everybody involved makes it easier, the big lift is seeing players coming back, seeing players improving and trying to refocus and finish strong this season.
“That’s the positive now, when we have everybody, I think we’ll be better.”
Liverpool beat Wolves 4-0 earlier in the season in the reverse fixture at Anfield, but the Reds’ form since has been far from impressive and the two sides face each other under a completely different set of circumstances.
“That defeat didn’t teach me anything, we faced a tough opponent that was better than us in that game,” Nuno explained.
“The lessons that we take is from all the opponents and all the matches that we have, Anfield was a long, long time ago so many things have changed since then for both teams.
“It’s going to be a new game and a new challenge.”
Wolves welcome Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool to Molineux on Monday night for a 8pm kick-off.
