Wolves v Chelsea preview: Julen Lopetegui’s focus is firmly fixed on his side doing their job

Lopetegui’s first game in charge of Wolves was a 2-1 win against Everton over Christmas when Lampard was in charge of the Merseyside team.

It meant he was first Wolves manager to win his first top flight game since John Barnwell in 1978.

Lampard was yesterday appointed interim boss of Chelsea, his former club, two years and three months after he was sacked when permanent boss.

Graham Potter was dismissed after last weekend’s 2-0 home defeat against Villa.

But there will be no second guessing of formation or team as Lampard brings his team to Molineux tomorrow for his first game back in charge.

Lopetegui said: “One thing I do know is the quality of the Chelsea squad, they have one of the best in the world.

“There is quality all over, whoever is in charge, and I feel for Graham Potter, but that is the game.

“As far as Frank Lampard is concerned, I can try and second guess what he will do tomorrow, how he will set-up and which players he will include, but I prefer to focus on our game plan because that is what will win us the game, hopefully.

“I don’t know whether having a new coach will help Chelsea – again it is our job to set-up to counter any team we play and do our own jobs, and that is what we will be concentrating on.”

Lopetegui refused to be drawn on who would replace Ruben Neves, who is suspended for two games after picking up his 10th booking of the season last Saturday against Nottingham Forest.

He did confirm forward Hwang Hee-chan would be fit and available for the game.

Meanwhile, defender Craig Dawson said they wouldn’t be focussing on other results as Wolves go into the last nine games of the season looking over their shoulders.

He said: “You see the scores, but it’s important to stay focused on yourself and look at the games you’ve got coming up where you can hopefully pick up points – sooner rather than later. If you pick up the points, it doesn’t matter about what anyone else has done.

“It’s super tight and it’s going to be a tough challenge for all the teams, but that is what the Premier League is about.

“Every game is tough, we know that, and there are so many teams involved now.

“It’s additional pressure because you know the games are counting down and you’ve got to pick up the points.

“It’s obviously tough, emotions are high, especially at this time of the season when you need the points, but that’s why it’s so important that we stay focused on ourselves, keep calm and prepare well for every game, stay to our strengths and stick together as a team.”

On facing Chelsea he said: “It’s an important game at home and we’ve had some great results at home this season against bigger teams, so it’s important for us to continue that.”