The Express & Star understands Dendoncker returned from his post-World Cup break overweight and has taken time to get up to full fitness.

The defender/midfielder, who has joined initially on loan from Anderlecht for the season before Wolves pay £12m for him next summer, hasn't kicked a ball in the Premier League.

He was left out of the squad for Friday's 2-1 defeat at Cardiff, Wolves' fifth loss in six matches – the worst run of Nuno's managerial career.

But the head coach, speaking before that Cardiff game, said there were no problems with Dendoncker.

"He's fit enough, all the players are fit," Nuno said.

"It's another option. All the players have been working, it's up to us to make decisions and try to find the best.

"(That decision is) considered based on many things, the best options for the team.

"A lot of players like Leander, Kortney (Hause), (Ruben) Vinagre, (Romain) Saiss, Morgan (Gibbs-White), Leo (Bonatini), now (Diogo) Jota, (Ivan) Cavaleiro, Helder (Costa), it's about how you wait for your chance and how you prepare yourself knowing that sometimes you do everything right and we decide the other way."

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Dendoncker played 90 minutes in Wolves' Carabao Cup games against Sheffield Wednesday and Leicester City, with the team keeping a clean sheet on both occasions.

However the 23-year-old's absence in the league remains a mystery. Dendoncker has won six caps for Belgium and was in the squad which reached the World Cup semi-finals in Russia last summer.

Nuno added, when talking about the reasons for leaving players out: "It's not because of less work, or because you don't put in everything that you have, it's because we have to make decisions and sometimes it's not hard.

"The understanding of the situation is very important to maintain the harmony in the round, understanding the manager's decisions. And how you show when you have your chance on the pitch.

"The way we've been working together is good."