It has been one year since a Wolves striker scored in the Premier League, something which would perhaps not be an issue for Julen Lopetegui if Kevin Doyle was still at Molineux.

Raul Jimenez, Diego Costa, Matheus Cunha and Hwang Hee-chan have all tried and failed for the Old Gold in the top flight, with their goalscoring issues a significant factor in their ongoing battle against relegation this season.

However, it has not always been an issue for the Midlands club, as former Republic of Ireland striker Doyle was a consistent source of goals in the Mick McCarthy era at Molineux.

How good was Kevin Doyle for Wolves?

Wolves would sign Doyle from Reading for an undisclosed fee in the summer of 2009 and he would spend six years at the club before departing for Colorado Rapids in 2015.

It was something of a coup for the Old Gold given that the former Cork City man had hit 56 goals for Reading in 156 appearances, including 18 the season prior in the second tier, and his impressive goalscoring return would continue with his new club.

His debut campaign in the 2009/10 season saw him hit nine goals and one assist in 34 Premier League appearances, and he followed that up with another seven goals and six assists in all competitions the following season.

2011/12 and 2012/13 were disastrous years for Wolves as they suffered back-to-back relegations to League One but Doyle certainly couldn’t be blamed for their demise, as he contributed 14 goals and 14 assists across those two seasons.

McCarthy was full of praise for his striker’s “awesome” performance in August 2011 when he inspired the Old Gold to a 2-0 win against Fulham.

He said:

“Him and Fletch (Steven Fletcher) were the epitome of the team. They led from the front and worked the defence really hard.

“And ‘Doyler’ deserved his goal from a fabulous performance.

“He carved the first opening for himself and a couple of the lads might have been complaining he didn’t lay it off but I thought he was right to have the shot. I think he was just knackered and off balance at the end and put it over the bar. But his goal was terrific.”

Given Jimenez’s woes in front of goal across the last two seasons as a Wolves player, Lopetegui will be wishing he had a reliable finisher such as Doyle in his side for the rest of the campaign, as the Spaniard looks to steer the Old Gold well away from relegation trouble.