Raul Jimenez showed bravery and courage in returning from his horror injury, says Conor Coady, who has revealed that his absence "hit everyone hard" at Wolves.
Jimenez suffered a life-threatening injury during a fixture against Arsenal in November last year, fracturing his skull after a clash of heads with David Luiz.
The Mexican striker missed the remainder of the 2021-22 season as he underwent an extensive rehabilitation programme, but has returned to lead the line for Wolves once again at the start of the new campaign, and ended his long wait to get back on the scoresheet on Sunday.
What has been said?
“I’m just so, so proud of what he’s gone through, what he’s done, how he’s got through it, the character he’s shown, the bravery, the courage, and his goal was the same old Raul," he told Wolves' official website. "It’s something we became accustomed to before he got injured.
“The injury hit everybody hard, so to see him score again is absolutely incredible and he really deserves it. He works so, so hard in training every week, he’s been working on his finishing since he’s been back, and what a goal it was.”
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Coady went on to insist that he never had any doubts that a man who now has 49 goals to his name through 116 outings for Wolves would get back to his best.
“There was no question marks from our behalf. We believe in him no matter what, he’s one of the best strikers in the world in our eyes, we’re so lucky to have him at this football club," the Wolves captain added. "We saw how he went about it, a tap in, anything he would have got would have been massive for us, but to score a goal like that shows his quality.
“I’ve never once looked at him and thought he wasn’t the same Raul. He goes into training every day and gives 100 per cent and gives the best of himself every day, like everybody does in our dressing room. He’s an absolute pleasure to work with and we’re lucky to have him.”
Jimenez's emotional winner against Southampton
Jimenez had drawn blanks in his first five Premier League appearances under new Wolves boss Bruno Lage, but scored his first goal in 366 days during their latest outing against Southampton.
The 30-year-old chased down a long goal kick from Jose Sa before seeing off two Saints defenders and producing an ice-cool finish on the hour mark, with Wolves ultimately winning the contest 1-0 to pick up their first three points of the season.
Jimenez, who was mobbed by his team-mates after scoring and briefly took off his protective head guard to celebrate, told the club's website of his relief post-match: "I've worked hard for this, but I'm going to keep working hard.
"I wanted to finish the puzzle. I wanted this goal so much, but now I have my payback."
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