Wolves comment: Can Helder Costa find the missing spark?

After all, we have not seen the best of the Portuguese trickster for quite a while now.

This appalling pace, that silky skill, and that eye for purpose that we saw from the young 25-year-old at the beginning in gold, are gone.

But there is a fantastic player, quite capable of separating the defenses of the Premier League, so you can understand the will of Nuno Espirito Santo to persevere with him.

Why did not Costa do this campaign then?

That's the question on the lips of thousands of Wolves fans.

Well, you can not say that it's for lack of opportunities.

Costa has made 16 starts in the high end, starting for the first 14 games of the campaign. He has also made five appearances as a substitute and has been included in every team of the day in the league this month.

However, only one goal came from these games – even though it was very well taken in the magnificent win against the Spurs at Wembley.

Costa also started all three FA Cup Wolves games and played 18 minutes in Sheffield Wednesday in the League Cup – scoring in that one.

Two goals in 25 appearances in all competitions is not catastrophic, and there are certainly worse Portuguese players who played in the Premier League – see Bebe, Ricardo Vaz Te and Helder Postiga. Or, if you think about the 2003/04 mandate, Silas – one of the biggest flops of wolves in recent decades.

But given the badlash he's had and the player we all know that it can be, Costa should do a lot more.

And it was certainly Nuno's opinion, after Costa had opened his account.

"Yes, this is the first, he has to do more," he said.

"We already have 20 games. He must do more. "

Costa was struggling to tune up last season after a few months of absence following an ankle injury – and that was understandable.

They say that it can take as long to get back to the song as the time you missed, so everyone was staying next to Costa and hoped that it would be refreshed and ready to storm the Premier League.

And a very successful start for Portugal has made us all think that it would do that.

Scoring a 3-1 win over Scotland at Hampden Park in October, he seemed ready to be the stepping stone for him to come out of his shell.

But in reality, he moved away from the player who was a pleasure to watch on his first loan with Benfica, which earned him to be won for 13 million pounds.

The broadcast of last Tuesday's FA Cup against Shrewsbury Town should have been a clash between Costa, who stands out because she is just too hot for a League One backline.

As in the initial match at Montgomery Waters Meadow, you could barely notice it.

In the face of James Bolton, Costa rarely attacked his man and showed no appetite for the job.

He looked weak in confidence, so much so that he was sacked for Joao Moutinho in the 69th minute.

He made a frustrated figure as he also left the field.

You simply hope that Costa will be able to find this spark as soon as possible, as it now seems to be at the bottom of the Wolf's stack and is likely to be left behind.

Perhaps a goal on the bench against Newcastle, against which he scored his first league goal against the club against Molineux on Monday, could put him back on track.