Gary O’Neil is facing a potentially pivotal encounter with Southampton this weekend and will come under severe pressure if Wolverhampton Wanderers’ alarming run continues.

Wolves are desperate for O’Neil to secure his first victory of the season on Saturday but frustration is growing with the club lying at the bottom of the table and without a Premier League win since April 24.

After signing a new four-year contract in August, O’Neil is enduring an excruciating second season and defeat by Southampton, plus a poor team performance, could leave the hierarchy with a decision to make over the international break.

Any move on O’Neil’s future will be made by club chairman Jeff Shi, and sporting director Matt Hobbs.

Wolves are extremely reluctant to dismiss their head coach whom they regard as one of England’s brightest young operators.

The 41-year-old performed impressively last season to reinvigorate a team recovering from a fractious pre-season under wantaway coach Julen Lopetegui to even briefly raise hopes of qualifying for European football.

Yet this campaign is proving difficult and relegation to the Championship would end a largely successful six years of stability at the top level.

Wolves insist they are remaining together behind the scenes and there is complete trust in the short and long-term plans of the club.

O’Neil remains in close contact with Hobbs and Shi, plus head of performance Phil Hayward. Other senior officials are united in simply wanting a victory on Saturday to kick-start the season.

There is also a belief that, despite the seven league defeats, Wolves have not been playing badly.

The club’s frustrations with VAR are also continuing, with Hobbs banned from Molineux for a second game this weekend for misconduct following the contentious home defeat by Manchester City.

However, there is a realisation that this run cannot be allowed to continue for much longer. Any decision on O’Neil will be collaborative and there is scope to be flexible with the club’s strategy.

Player exodus has left O’Neil hamstrung

O’Neil, perhaps rightly, will point to the sales of key players over the last three transfer windows as unsustainable for a club of Wolves’ size.

While the likes of Rúben Neves, Matheus Nunes, Raúl Jiménez and Conor Coady all departed, it is arguably the sales of Pedro Neto and Max Kilman this summer that have inflicted the most damage.

Were they properly replaced? You have to say not. In September, Hobbs explained in detail to Telegraph Sport the club’s thinking on Kilman’s sale and insisted there was enough cover.

Yet the big question dominating the thoughts of Wolves fans this season is whether the worrying start is down to an unforgiving set of fixtures or something more disturbing. Many now are arguing the latter.

It may surprise some outsiders that Wolves have won only one of their last 20 league matches.

That dire sequence stretches back to late March, when a season of huge promise fizzled out as injuries to key players became insurmountable.

Manager hoping history does not repeat itself

O’Neil only needs to consider the dismissal of Bruno Lage, who was booted out in October 2022 after an equally dismal run in the league.

Wolves concluded that results and performances from the end of the previous season had spilt into the new campaign. It was a downward trend that required drastic action.

Lage’s methods and management style were far removed from that of O’Neil, who is well liked and respected by his squad.

Training sessions are meticulously planned and provide a clear picture of how O’Neil wants his team to play.

O’Neil used the summer to transition his team into his favoured 4-2-3-1 formation, but heavy defeats by Chelsea and Brentford forced a return to the three familiar centre-halves – and the dismissal of set-piece coach Jack Wilson. Wolves have conceded a league-high 27 goals.

O’Neil still has backing of his squad

There have been some recent positives to cling on to. The response by O’Neil’s players in the draws with Brighton and Crystal Palace proved he still has their backing.

Indeed, when João Gomes put Wolves ahead against Palace and ran to celebrate with O’Neil in the technical area, it felt significant for some supporters.

Jorgen Strand Larsen, the No 9 sought by O’Neil, is regarded as a quality addition with growth to improve and already has four goals this season.

Gomes, the Brazilian midfielder, is coveted by a number of clubs across Europe and further afield, and underlined his commitment to Wolves by staying for this season.

Matheus Cunha has been performing consistently well and leading by example, while also clearly suffering with the club’s struggles.

Patience cannot last forever, however, and that is why this weekend’s game ahead of the break feels so crucial.

Victory could finally kick a creaking season into life: that remains the hope for all of the board. Three points will also take the club closer towards 17th place if other results go their way.

Falling to a Southampton team who celebrated their first league win last weekend will make the situation very uncomfortable. And perhaps untenable.