Wolverhampton Wanderers Face Injury Setbacks for Trippier and Mosquera

Wolverhampton Wanderers have been dealt an early-season blow with confirmation that Kieran Trippier suffered a knee ligament injury on his league debut for the club.

The 35-year-old right-back, who joined Wolves 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 his long-awaited return to English league football.

The setback adds to a growing defensive headache. Yerson Mosquera also faces time out after limping off against Blackburn. The 25-year-old defender has a slight tear in his ankle ligaments and is likely to miss several weeks, stripping Wolves of another option at the back just as the season begins to take shape.

There is at least one shaft of light for the medical team.

Winger Rafiki Said, a summer signing, is making encouraging progress after suffering a “high-grade” MCL injury in pre-season. The 26-year-old was hurt in a friendly against Maidenhead United last month, only 11 days after arriving at the club, raising fears of a long and stuttering start to his Wolves career.

Wolves director of performance Phil Hayward delivered a more upbeat bulletin on the wide man’s recovery.

“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, outlining a rare positive in an otherwise punishing injury report.

The goalkeeping department is also close to a boost. Sam Johnstone is understood to be around a week away from full fitness, while Haiti international midfielder Jean-Ricner Bellegarde is expected to need a couple more weeks before he can rejoin first-team training.

Wolves now enter a crucial stretch juggling early-season ambition with a patched-up squad, hoping the damage stops here rather than defining their autumn.