Julen Lopetegui took aim at Premier League bosses after Liverpool were given an extra two days to prepare for Saturday’s FA Cup tie against his Wolves side.
The staggered Christmas and New Year schedule saw Liverpool beaten 3-1 at Brentford on January 2, with Wolves drawing 1-1 at Aston Villa 48 hours later, in only Lopetegui’s third game in charge.
The Spaniard may be forced to shuffle his pack at Anfield, especially as Wolves have a Carabao Cup quarter-final at Nottingham Forest on January 11. But he is unhappy that the fixture has handed Liverpool such an apparent advantage.
Julen Lopetegui is not happy about his side’s lack of preparation time for their trip to Liverpool
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Wolves played Aston Villa on Wednesday, and have to travel to Anfield three days later
The players looked tired after their draw with Villa, but must pick themselves up quickly
‘I don’t understand how you can play in a knockout competition with two days less preparation time than the opponent,’ he said. ‘Maybe it can happen that the opponent has one day extra, but two days is a lot and makes a big difference for us.
‘We are playing again three days after we’ve played Villa, against a Liverpool team who have had two days more rest. I’m sorry but I don’t know why. I don’t understand this.’
Wolves will also renew their push to sign a midfielder after Lopetegui revealed Boubacar Traore had been ruled out for at least a month with injury.
Boubacar Traore has been ruled out for at least another month due to a thigh problem
Wolves are now expected to make a third attempt to sign Nice’s Mario Lemina (right)
The on-loan Metz player has not featured since before the World Cup break due to a thigh problem, and Wolves are expected to make a third attempt to bring in Mario Lemina after having two bids rejected for the Nice man.
The latest offer was of about £4.9million. Lemina has played for both Southampton and Fulham and would be keen to return to the Premier League, with personal terms not expected to be an obstacle for the 29-year-old.
Lopetegui added: ‘With Traore out for one or two months, we have only four central midfielders and of course we have to have more.’