Ruben Neves issues Wolves promotion claim that fans will love

The former Molineux favourite has spoken about his continued support for the Championship side

Former Wolverhampton Wanderers favourite and Portugal international, Ruben Neves, has issued a claim on the club's chances of having a successful first season back in the Championship under Cesar Peixoto.

The Old Gold and Black were relegated last season after spending eight unbroken years in the Premier League, finishing rock-bottom of the table whilst accumulating just 20 points.

Their first pre-season back in the Championship also provided some remarkable twists, mainly the decision to appoint Peixoto, who had guided Gil Vicente to a sixth-placed finish in Liga Portugal last season in place of Rob Edwards, who was sacked in early June just months after controversially leaving Middlesbrough.

It has been an intriguing summer of transfer activity at Molineux too, as Wanderers were able to retain the services of Brazilian midfielder, Andre, after agreeing a new four-year contract, whilst also recruiting the likes of Kieran Trippier, Jordan James and another WV1 favourite, Raul Jimenez.

As such, supporters in this part of the West Midlands will be hoping Peixoto, in his first season involved in English football, can emulate the success of his compatriot, Nuno Espirito Santo.

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Neves, 29, moved to Wolves nine years ago at a time when the aforementioned Nuno assembled a star-studded squad by Championship standards.

At the time of his arrival, the elegant midfielder had already captained former side, FC Porto, at just 18 years of age, and was acquired for a then-Championship record transfer fee of £15.8m, which has since been smashed a handful of times, including this summer as West Ham signed Arne Engels from Celtic for £22m.

The 69-time Portuguese international became a firm favourite over time, alongside the likes of Joao Moutinho and the late Diogo Jota, for his involvement in helping Wolves secure UEFA Europa League football and reach an FA Cup semi-final shortly after their promotion as champions in 2017/18.

Since his departure to Al-Hilal for £47m three summers ago, he has returned to Molineux on occasions, and has now revealed what he hopes comes to fruition for his former club.

"Every time I can, I still watch Wolves. It's one of my favourite teams. Since I was there, I loved it and I have a lot of friends there," he told BBC Sport.

"I watched the game against Port Vale in the EFL Cup so I'm very happy and I'm sure they will do very good in the Championship."

Wolves have had the strongest start to the new season out of the three newly-relegated sides, as they are the only team of the trio to have won in their combined six Championship matches.

That came on Saturday with a dominant performance and 3-1 success against Preston North End at Deepdale despite a minor injury crisis to some key players, following on from a frustrating 2-2 draw against Blackburn Rovers in the division's curtain-raiser on August 14th at Molineux.

Despite the contrasting circumstances as to how the club find themselves in the Championship, Neves added: "It reminds me of my first season there and I hope they come back to the Premier League as soon as possible."

In their opening two matches, Fer Lopez has significantly impressed for Wolves with two goals and an assist, but the upcoming block of fixtures is a chance for Peixoto's side to continue laying markers down in the early-season tussle for supremacy.

Indeed, they will hope to record just a fourth league win at Molineux in 12 months against Stoke City on Saturday afternoon, before travelling to West Ham and Birmingham City in successive matches, with the latter in particular set to be a hostile atmosphere.

Afterwards they face off against Portsmouth and Sheffield United, before hosting West Bromwich Albion in the first Black Country derby of the season on Sunday, September 20th ahead of the first international break of the season.

As such, if Peixoto is able to add to his squad in the final week of the transfer window and build on their first league win of the season in the six upcoming fixtures, Neves may feel his prediction is vindicated early doors.