Mario Lemina: Wolves midfielder loses captaincy as boss Gary O’Neil appoints Nelson Semedo

Mario Lemina has lost the Wolves captaincy after talks with boss Gary O’Neil.

The 31-year-old midfielder has been replaced by defender Nelson Semedo as skipper in the lead-up to Saturday’s visit of Ipswich.

The decision was made after Lemina had an altercation with West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen following the final whistle of Monday’s 2-1 defeat at London Stadium.

It is the latest problem for O’Neil, who has been under serious pressure at Molineux with Wolves second bottom of the Premier League.

“We’ve decided to move the captaincy to Nelson and Nelson will captain the group from now on,” said O’Neil, who only handed Lemina the armband in the summer.

“Of course, the other night sparked the conversation, but it was an important conversation that had to be had. Mario and myself have a good understanding now of how we move forward and what it looks like.

“We’ve spoken a lot this week – me, Mario and some of the other senior players. What happened after the game can’t happen.

“We all understand emotions can rise, that we’re in a tough moment and everyone’s fighting and giving everything under big stress and pressure. But they’re scenes we won’t see again, definitely.”