Major injury boost for Bruno Lage as Wolves target Man United and West Ham top six spot ahead of Brighton

Influential Wolves midfielder Reuben Neves is ahead of schedule as he battles back to fitness from a knee injury ahead of Saturday's Premier League clash against Brighton.

Neves has not played since mid March and was expected to be out until May but the Portuguese has returned to light training this week as Bruno Lage's team look to hit back from defeat at Burnley.

“The plan is (for him) to start working with the team next week. Afterwards he will see what he can do, it depends on him," said Lage last week.

Wolves, who are eighth in the league standings, have a tough run of fixtures as they look to finish a successful in the top six.

Wolves are three points behind seventh placed West Ham with a game in hand and five points behind Manchester United - also with a game in hand.

The Brighton fixture is crucial to Wolves ambition as they face the daunting prospect of Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea in three of their remaining five outings

Neves was excellent against Brighton in the reverse fixture at the Amex Stadium last December and it was his sublime pass that picked out Romain Saiss for the winner in the narrow 1-0 triumph.

Graham Potter's Brighton are also aiming to end a largely successful season on a high note as they aim for a top 10 finish. A draw or better at Molineux this weekend would see Albion surpass their record Premier League points tally of 41.

Albion could however be without attacker Jeremy Sarmiento after the Ecuador international pulled-up with a thigh problem on Monday night during an under-23s match against Chelsea at the Amex Stadium.