Head coach Bruno Lage has revealed that Willy Boly failed to attend Molineux on Sunday despite being named in the squad for the Premier League fixture with Newcastle United.

The two teams played out a 1-1 draw in the West Midlands as Ruben Neves's long-range strike was cancelled out by a thunderous late volley from Allan Saint-Maximin.

Lage used Nathan Collins and Max Kilman as his centre-backs for the fifth game in succession, meaning that Boly would only have been selected on the substitutes' bench.

However, Lage has said that Boly had been due to feature among the replacements having recovered from a minor injury which had kept him out of the EFL Cup tie with Preston North End on Tuesday night.

Instead, Yerson Mosquera was promoted to the squad in his place, and Lage chose to comment openly on Boly's situation at a time when he is being linked with Nottingham Forest.

While Lage said that he was an admirer of the 31-year-old, the Portuguese felt that it was obvious that the player was attempting to force a move away from the club.

Speaking to reporters at a press conference, Lage said: "It's a process. Willy Boly was in the squad list but he didn't come.

"Everything happens with agents and players and it's so hard to manage people. I don't just mean Boly but we need to think about this and what kind of rules we want so these kind of things don't happen.

"Maybe I'm dreaming, but we can think about what we can do different and protect these kind of things. Boly doesn't deserve that, he's a great professional and doesn't have any problems with me, but he wants to force something I think.

"I don't have anything to say about Boly, I just took my decision to put him in the squad list and he took his decision. I have a good relationship with him. He has a proposal in his hands and he wants to go."

Earlier this month, it was reported that Forest had bid just £1m for the Ivory Coast international, who has less than 12 months remaining on his contract.

Wolves rejected that offer out of hand, expecting at least double from a Premier League rival, but it remains unclear how the situation will be resolved at this stage.

Not including Boly, Wolves have four centre-backs in the first-team squad, as well as Leander Dendoncker who can deputise in a back three should he be required to do so.

However, Lage has recently suggested that he would prefer to send Mosquera out on loan after he missed the majority of last season due to injury.