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This article is part of Football FanCast's In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets... 

Wolves were taken to penalties in their third-round Carabao Cup tie against Championship outfit Reading but managed to sneak through as the visitors missed two of their spot-kicks.

Nuno Santo made a total of ten changes for the fixture with a debut being handed to Bruno Jordao, who joined the club in the summer from Lazio.

The 20-year-old midfielder scored their only goal in regulation time as he smashed home a strike from 25 yards out, but the second-tier team fought back and forced the game to penalties as Lucas Boye met John Swift’s deft rabona cross in what was a dramatic finish.

The west Midlands club have been struggling in the Premier League so far this season sitting second-bottom, and this latest result wouldn’t have helped confidence too much considering they could only draw with Reading over the 90 minutes.

One of their biggest problems this season has been in midfield, where instrumental figures like Joao Moutinho and Ruben Neves have regressed since last season having finished in a record seventh place.

Jordao showed glimpses of promise before his game was agonisingly cut short by injury in the 42nd minute.

In his first-half cameo, the Portugal Under-21 international managed to register one key pass and one tackle, on top of scoring their only goal of the match too.

This could suggest that he’s the sort of box-to-box midfielder that Wolves have been crying out for this season so they could be left gutted as he faces time on the sidelines. Nuno said after the match that it was an ankle issue.

Jordao also recorded 87% passing accuracy which is some way above that of the two aforementioned stalwarts that have been playing in the heart of midfield for the club this season.

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Neves has managed just 72.8% while Moutinho’s passing success rate is down from last season by around 6%, averaging only 81.9%. Their underwhelming outings have become somewhat of a concern so seeing Jordao limp off is unlikely to help matters further.

In his short time on the field, he looked like a potential solution but they'll now have to wait longer to work out whether he's the real deal.

The Wolves boss was often stubborn in his team selection last term as he only used a total of 19 players in the Premier League, but this season he’s chopped and changed regularly utilising 24 members of his squad as the club have had to endure a gruelling Europa League qualification campaign.

Wolves’ summer arrival certainly looked bright in his short debut, so hopefully, he can return as soon as possible to help his side turn things around.