WOLVES head coach Gary O’Neil shared that he was “surprised” by the actions of Lewis Cook during his side’s 2-1 victory over Cherries.
With the scores locked at 1-1 following Dominic Solanke’s opener and Matheus Cunha’s equaliser, an altercation between Cherries’ Cook and Wolves’ Hwang Hee-Chan resulted in the former headbutting the latter.
That left match official Paul Tierney no choice but to send Cook off, Cherries ultimately losing 2-1 after Sasa Kalajdzic’s late winner.
Cook played 26 times under O’Neil last season before the head coach was replaced by current incumbent Andoni Iraola in the summer.
Asked about the incident, O’Neil told the Daily Echo: “I was surprised. I know Lewis.
“A great, great guy, talented footballer.
“Great lad around the place.
“So, surprised. I haven’t seen it back, but I thought we were in control at that point, anyway.
“I thought we were the better team up to that moment as well.”
Wolves found themselves in trouble with the officials, picking up six yellows during the encounter that saw some full-blooded challenges.
“I’m disappointed with a couple of our yellows,” continued O’Neil.
“I think Cunha was maybe booked for dissent.
“Obviously Channy (Hee-Chan) was involved in the Lewis Cook incident.
“We still need to tidy that up. We’re still picking up too many yellow cards that we shouldn’t be. Even after my meeting with them the other day, we picked up a couple today.
“I do think it’s a tough shift for the players. I think it’s a big change, the time-wasting stuff.
“It’s something that’s been part of my coaching was telling the lads to delay restarts last season and make sure we don’t let anyone play quick against us.
“So now to shift that away, it’s a big change basically. And they’re also trying to get the lads up to speed with it.”
