Wolves midfielder reveals expectation for Leeds United visit and eyes improvement area v Whites

Wolves were bottom of the table at Christmas but new boss Julen Lopetegui has steered the Molineux outfit to 13th place in the Premier League table ahead of this weekend’s home showdown against second-bottom Leeds. Lemina, though, is acutely aware that his side are still only five points away from being bottom of the table and under no illusions at the demands facing Wolves over the next few weeks.

As the battle to stay in the division approaches crunch time, Wolves will follow Saturday’s visit of Leeds with a trip to fellow relegation-battlers Nottingham Forest after the international break and contests against fellow bottom half sides Leicester City and Crystal Palace are then on the agenda on the back of consecutive home games versus Chelsea and Brentford.

“It’s going to be tough," said 29-year-old Gabon international midfielder Lemina to wolves.co.uk. "It’s going to be really tough in the next few games because we are so close, from the bottom to just above us, but we’re just thinking about us, trying to win games to stay in this league.”

Speaking on the back of Sunday’s 2-1 defeat at Newcastle United, Lemina also highlighted a key area in which his side can improve.

“I think in possession,” he reasoned. “They are really aggressive, we should pass the ball quicker to make them run more and have more solutions in the middle because we could play behind the midfielders. We did sometimes and we had good chances, but it wasn’t enough.”