Mexican striker Raul Jimenez was absent in Wolves’ 2-1 victory over Aston Villa on Saturday, owing to a two-match ban as a result of his red card performance against Leeds United just before the international break.

The Old Gold’s positive display warranted a famous league double over their West Midlands rivals Aston Villa and acted as a response to what was a disappointing defeat against Leeds United, just before the international break.

Truthfully, Wolves did not suffer in the omission of their star striker Raul Jimenez, as a 19-year-old wonder-kid with “enormous potential” by the name of Fabio Silva filled the void left by the £19.8m-rated Mexican.

Before Saturday’s affair at Molineux, Silva had not been given much of a chance in terms of game time, with his inclusion against Aston Villa marking just his third Premier League start this season. 

With just four goals in 58 appearances for Wolves, former Porto prospect Silva was fortunate to start ahead of the likes of Hee-Chan Hwang, who is Wolves’ second-highest goalscorer this season with five Premier League strikes.

Though Bruno Lage’s faith in the forward who was dubbed “physical” by reporter Ollie Lewis, was more than repaid, as the 19-year-old Portuguese put in a performance that had fans questioning why he had not featured more this season.

It was a real throwback display from Silva in what was a display reminiscent of an old-fashioned centre-forward from yesteryear.

The £16.2m-rated gem was wholeheartedly positive, with his work rate and hold-up play being key factors of space creation for potent wingers Podence and Trincao.

His performance was one for the ‘eye test’ as his underlying stats told a different story.

If we were to judge Silva’s performance against Villa solely on stats, we would come away thinking he had played terribly. He had fewer touches than both goalkeepers and completed just 12 passes, the fewest of any Wolves starter.

Though, Silva will have been questioning how his name evaded the scoresheet, with his two big chances providing an xG total of 0.59. Essentially, on another day from that specific area of the pitch, those type of chances would go in.

With Jimenez serving the second of his two-match ban this week, Silva has the perfect opportunity to capitalise on his positive performance and force Bruno Lage’s hand in handing him his first back-to-back Premier League starts when Wolves travel to Newcastle next Friday.

In other news – Forget Otto: 12-pass Wolves gem proved he’s fulfilling his “enormous potential” v AVFC – opinion