Paul Ince was impressed by Wolves attacker Daniel Podence for Europa League display

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Paul Ince was left raving about Wolverhampton Wanderers attacker Daniel Podence following his display in the Europa League.

The 24-year-old helped set up two goals for visitors Wolves on the road against Spanish side Espanyol, with Adama Traore and Matt Doherty both on the scoresheet.

Espanyol ended up recording a 3-2 victory courtesy of Jonathan Calleri’s hat-trick to inflict a defeat on Wolves, but their 4-0 triumph from the first leg at Molineux ensured they progressed to the Europa League last-16 draw.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s side will have plenty to reflect on after suffering a loss to an Espanyol side sat bottom of La Liga, despite the fact they have a comprehensive 6-3 aggregate win over them from two legs.

Podence was a real shining light for the West Midlands club with his display, as he made the most of his first start since his January transfer from Olympiacos.

The Portuguese trickster is usually a winger by trade, but he played as part of a two-man attack next to Adama Traore and he caused trouble popping up on all areas of the pitch.

Former Wolves midfielder Ince singled him out for his display and feels he sent a positive message to manager Nuno.

“He (Podence) didn’t get much game time in the Premier League, but what we can see is he’s a very, very good player,” Ince told BT Sport 1 (7:50pm, 27 February).

“He’s got two great feet, great awareness. From an individual point of view he’s saying to Nuno ‘I want to play, I want to start’. I thought he was excellent, everything he did was sharp, he created and assisted, he’s got a lovely balance about him.”

TBR’s View:

After moving to Molinuex in January, Podence was always likely to face a period of time where he was eased into the first-team.

He may not have made the quick-fire start that he would have dreamed about, but he was the one individual that stood tall for Wolves during an indifferent display against Espanyol.

It’s going to be tough for him to break into the XI ahead of either Diogo Jota or Traore as a winger, but there is no doubt he’s strengthened competition in the squad and he’s now there ready to pounce.

Nuno is going to need his full squad to continue competing in the Premier League and Europa League, so Podence can have a big role to play in the remainder of the season.