For Wolves, this international break may have come at the worst possible time as they were just starting to find their feet.
After a dire start to their 2019/20 campaign, the west Midlands club have now picked up three successive victories, which was topped off by the stunning scalp of Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium last weekend.
Adama Traore netted a brace inside the final ten minutes to send shockwaves across the Premier League, though, it would have been to the delight of Liverpool, who now go eight points clear.
Before their victory over Watford just a couple of weeks ago, Wolves were sitting second-bottom in the top-flight and even lost their Europa League group opener having worked ever so tirelessly to get there in the first place.
The Spanish winger-turned-defender was probably the one shining light in the team after four assists from right wing-back.
His rich vein of form has often kept Wolves stalwart Matt Doherty out of the side, who has made 263 appearances since making his old gold debut back in 2010.
The pair actually played together in the Watford win with Traore featuring back in his former attacking role, but the 27-year-old was then dropped for the City game.
This weekend he is on international duty for the Republic of Ireland, where he has often faced another battle at right-back as captain Seamus Coleman is their regular choice after picking up 51 caps.
Watch Wolverhampton Wanderers Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below
The Boys in Green face a trip to Georgia on Saturday with a clear void at left-back with Enda Stevens suspended, meaning Doherty is the most likely option to play there in his absence.
It is a position that the Wolves man has played before at Molineux – in fact, it was his regular role during the 2016/17 season, the year before the club won the Championship.
Doherty has always done a pretty superb job on the left too – in 33 games there during the aforementioned season, he rated out at 7.22 by WhoScored and in the season before that was even higher at 7.77 when he played 21 times in the role.
Both seasons he recorded more than 1.5 tackles and 1.6 clearances per game which suggests he is more than capable, the 27-year-old even believes so himself:
“I’m totally comfortable playing in that position. But I’m not concerned by that.
“I know that I’ll be able to adapt to it, and if that’s the case, then it shouldn’t really be a problem, and I should be able to play just almost as well as I can on the other side.”
Back in the west Midlands, he would face stiff competition from Jonny and Ruben Vinagre, but there’s always a chance that Nuno Santo tries it out in the league, especially if he catches the eye over the next week.
No one could have predicted this season from Traore so this could be a cracking time for Doherty to make a statement.
