Wolves replace Patricio with Ruddy for Cardiff clash

Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo has revealed that John Ruddy will replace Rui Patricio in goal for the Premier League clash with Cardiff City on Saturday.

Portugal international Patricio has played every game in the league this season following his move from Sporting CP in June.

Ruddy has been restricted to just six appearances across the FA Cup and EFL Cup, but Nuno has opted to pick the former Norwich City man for the visit of the Bluebirds in order to get him ready for the FA Cup quarter-final tie against Manchester United in two weeks.

“We don’t normally do this, but to avoid any confusion, John Ruddy is going to play [on Saturday] because we consider it is the right moment to prepare him for what’s coming in front of us,” he explained.

Nuno revealed in his press conference that John Ruddy will make his first @premierleague start of the season tomorrow.

 “We consider this the right moment for him to get some gametime and to be stronger.

We have a lot of confidence in the three goalkeepers we have.”

 pic.twitter.com/Aji0xwIBjs

— Wolves (@Wolves) March 1, 2019

“In two weeks’ time, we’re going to play in the FA Cup, and John Ruddy is going to be in goal. We consider this is the right moment for him to get some game time competition and to be stronger.

“We have a lot of confidence in the three goalkeepers we have. Rui has been playing in the league and John has been playing in the cup. Will Norris has not had a chance until now to play but we have 100 per cent confidence in all three.”

Nuno did not reveal whether Ruddy will also feature in next weekend’s Premier League visit to Chelsea.