Wolves boss Bruno Lage has told goalkeeper Matija Sarkic he can challenge Jose Sa for the No1 spot this season.

Lage has challenged Sarkic to embrace the role that Ruddy had at Wolves and pour the pressure on Sa – as well as staking his own claim to play ahead of the Portuguese shot stopper.

“John (Ruddy) was important for me and the club. He was a great voice in the dressing room," Lage said.

“Jose Sa was at that level in his first Premier League season because of the competition that John brought to the team.

“Sarkic needs to do the same. When you are young you need to have goals in front of you.

“There's a period when you have space outside of the team to play and improve, like he did last season.

“When we think he can come (to the team), he needs to understand the first goal is to work hard every day to improve his qualities and understand which qualities to work to be better every day. The good thing that we can say about the environment we have, is that he can learn because Jose is a great professional."