Wolverhampton Wanderers have been dealt a double injury blow ahead of their Carabao Cup meeting with Gillingham this evening.

What's the talk?

In recent comments cited by Birmingham Live, Julen Lopetegui revealed that he will be without both Jonny Castro Otto and Boubacar Traore for the visit of the League Two side this evening, with the pair - who also sat out Wolves' final mid-season friendly against Cadiz last week - remaining sidelined due to injuries.

Regarding his team news for the cup clash, the Spanish manager said: "We have a new problem with Jonny and Bouba. The rest of the players are ready, of course without Pedro Neto. This is a long-term injury."

Huge blow

Considering just how important both Jonny and Traore are within Lopetegui's first-team squad, the news that the duo will remain unavailable for the visit of Gillingham this evening, as well as being potential doubts for the trip to Everton on Boxing Day, is sure to have come as a huge blow to the 56-year-old coach.

Indeed, despite Wolves' extremely poor start to the season, Jonny has still managed to return impressive numbers at the back, helping his side keep three clean sheets over his 12 Premier League appearances, in addition to making an average of 2.3 tackles - the joint 28th-most in the league - 0.9 interceptions, 1.5 clearances and winning 5.4 duels - at a success rate of 53% - per game.

These returns have seen the 28-year-old right-back average a very respectable Sofascore match rating of 6.71, currently ranking him as the Old Gold's 11th-best performer in the top flight of English football.

Meanwhile, while summer signing Traore has not had much of a chance to impress in the league - registering one assist over his four starts in the Premier League - the 21-year-old midfielder did catch the eye in Wolves' 1-0 win over Leeds United in the last round of the Carabao Cup, scoring the winner, making two key passes and earning a Sofascore match rating of 7.4.

As such, the absence of both players is bad news for Lopetegui and his side, as the Spanish manager will undoubtedly be hoping to get his Wolves' career off to a winning start against Gillingham tonight - with the unavailability of the duo certainly being a blow to the Old Gold's chances of picking up a result against the League Two outfit.