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Wolves' O'Neil must conjure up more wins without star man Hwang Hee-chan

  /  autty

They regard Gary O'Neil as a magician at Molineux and now fans await his next trick - how to replace Hwang Hee-chan.

Hwang, who is off to play in the Asian Cup for South Korea, was mesmerising as Wolves chalked up a third consecutive victory.

Even though he did not add to his 11 goals this season, the effervescent forward contributed a brilliant assist.

At one time his absence would have been concerning but, such is O'Neil's confidence, he is relishing the challenge, with Pedro Neto fit again and Sasa Kalajdzic a different option up front.

'I'm gutted we're losing Channy, he has been a massive part of what we've achieved. But I am also excited to see who in our group can deal with it,' said the Wolves manager.

'If we have to use young players or bring people off the bench, yeah. We lose three (Rayan Ait-Nouri and Boubacar Traore also go to AFCON), but I get to learn more about the others. It's a challenge for all of us.

'It's my job as a coach to help the players deal with different situations. I don't just want to coach low block all the time. Against Everton, our use of the ball was excellent.'

Hwang tormented Everton and set up Matheus Cunha for a tap-in after Max Kilman broke the deadlock.

Craig Dawson completed the scoring and Hwang was also denied by Jordan Pickford.

Typically, Hwang's first thoughts were for team-mate Mario Lemina, absent after the death of his father.

'The match was special for us,' said Hwang. 'As a team we were determined to play for him. I'm happy the result was positive.

'I feel proud of what I've achieved. What other Koreans have done is a big motivation.

'I grew up watching players like Park Ji-sung and dreaming I could follow them.'

Three defeats has left Everton a point above the drop zone and defender James Tarkowski said the break before their next league game against Aston Villa on January 14 might help if Abdoulaye Doucoure is fit.

'He's scored a lot of important goals for us,' he said.