Gary O'Neil hints that Jonny Otto could still have a future with Wolves after his exile from first-team

Gary O'Neil has hinted that Jonny could still have a future with Wolves, despite being exiled from the first team after swinging an elbow towards an U21 player.

The 29-year-old Spanish footballer, who joined from Atletico Madrid for £18m in 2019, has been disciplined following a training ground incident and will not return to the first-team set-up until the end of January. 

However, O'Neil took the opportunity to praise the defender's contribution to the club when asked about the situation in his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday's trip to West Ham. 

'I don't want to go into details of what did and didn't happen and Jonny has had a fantastic time at this football club,' O'Neil said.

'That can still continue. Somebody making a mistake definitely shouldn't define what you've been to the football club. 

'I've made a million mistakes, I'm sure we all have. Jonny will have his thoughts on the situation. You make a mistake, we deal with the mistake and everybody moves on. That's where we are. 

'It's been dealt with. Jonny is still a fantastic player for the football club and has been involved in some incredible moments here. Some fantastic seasons. 

'Things happen in football, they're dealt with and we move on. We'll see what happens in the future.' 

The player Jonny is said to have clashed with is forward Tawanda Chirewa, who joined from Ipswich in 2019. He has scored two goals in three Premier League 2 games this season and has been on the bench for Wolves in their last three matches.

According to The Athletic Jonny is believed to have attacked Chirewa during a clash in a training session at Compton Park.

He is then claimed to have spat at a member of the coaching staff that tried to pull him away from the clash, and then going onto damage items in the players' room.

It is said that Jonny was angered by a challenge from Chirewa in training, in the build-up to Wolves's 2-1 loss to Arsenal at The Emirates on December 2. He is not said to have made contact with the attempted elbow.

Chirewa is believed to have finished the session, though Jonny was ordered to leave the field and go into the buildings at the training ground, where it is claimed he smashed a TV and damaged a table before being sent home.

Asked if Jonny would leave Molineux in January, O'Neil said: 'The statement from the club told you everything at the moment really. He's going to stay out of our group until (the end of) January and then we'll see where everything is.

'There's no further update or more detail I can add to that. Jonny will continue to work and play with the under-21s until then.'

O'Neil hopes Rayan Ait-Nouri will be available to face the Hammers after he missed the last three games with an ankle injury, while Pedro Neto could return for the Christmas Eve fixture with Chelsea following a hamstring strain.