WATCH FOR ALL THE LATEST NEWS AHEAD OF WOLVES V COVENTRY
TEAM NEWS
Gary O’Neil said he wouldn’t be giving any injury updates ahead of tomorrow’s game but we know the Matheus Cunha is back in training and could play a role. As for Pedro Neto and Jean Ricner Bellegarde they are out although their injuries are not as bad as first thought. Hwang-Hee Chan is still sidelined with a hamstring injury.
Coventry manager Mark Robins is thought to have almost a full compliment of players to choose from with the exception of midfielder Tatsuhiro Sakamoto who will be out for the remainder of the season.;
GARY O'NEIL
Here are the main headlines:
He has decided not to give injury updates before the “big game” against the Sky Blues: “Any injury updates I will save for tomorrow after the teamsheets are named.” He added that Pedro Neto and Jeanricner Bellegarde, who were due to have scans this week, are both “OK and in good spirits”.
O’Neil is “delighted” to have Matheus Cunha back in training though: “The lads are happy to have him back in and around them. It’s an unbelievable effort from him to get back in training as quickly as he has. So it’s now on us to manage him in the best way we can.”
The build-up to the quarter-final has been “exactly the same as always” but O’Neil recognises it will be a “big game” for Wolves: “When the prize is Wembley, which is slightly different to when I was growing up, it would be fantastic for the club.”
On focusing their efforts on the cup this season: “The ability that I saw in the group made me believe that just wasting the cup would just be a waste. But, the fact we set our stall out very early and we spoke to the players about the amount of talent we have in the room, why would we not go full tilt?”
He added: “I don’t ever feel comfortable. So the fact that we’re in the quarter-finals, and we’ve got 41 points, won’t make me feel any better about losing a game. The next loss will still hurt equally as much. So we’re working very hard to make sure we keep the level up.”
Manager Mark Robins has done a “very good job” to have Coventry “knocking on the door” of the Championship play-offs: “I don’t know Mark overly well. I’m very impressed with his team. Obviously, I know they’ve had some tough times recently as a club, financially, and they’ve managed to put a very good campaign together this year.”
O’Neil recognises the Sky Blues will be “full strength” when they come to Molineux: “I can’t imagine it feeling like a Premier League team versus a lower league opposition. My players are well aware that we treat it as if Manchester City are coming tomorrow. We’re equally as serious and equally as focused.”
It will be “tough” for Wolves to go the whole way in the competition: “I think you can see from the teams that are still in it that it’s tough. You need a lot of things to go your way to be able to progress. Zero of my attention is on trying to win the FA Cup at the moment, to be honest. It’s just on trying to beat Coventry.”
MATCH STATS & FACTS
Here are the key facts and figures before Saturday’s game between Wolves and Coventry City in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
Wolves are unbeaten in their past five home games against Coventry, having last played the Sky Blues in a 1-1 draw in League One in October 2013.
This is the first FA Cup meeting between Wolves and Coventry since the 1983-84 third round, with the Sky Blues progressing after a 3-0 win in the replay.
Wolves have progressed from two of their past three FA Cup quarter-finals, most recently a 2-1 win over Manchester United in 2018-19.
Coventry are the top goalscorers in the FA Cup this season, from the first round onwards, with 16 goals. It’s the joint-most they have scored in a campaign, level with 1962-63.
Kasey Palmer has been involved in seven goals in his five FA Cup appearances for Coventry, scoring three and assisting four. No player left in the competition has been involved in more goals this term than Palmer (five – two goals, three assists).
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Sam Barrott Assistant referees: Marc Perry & Mark Scholes Fourth official: Michael Salisbury VAR: Graham Scott Support VAR: Stuart Attwell Assistant VAR: Natalie Aspinall
MATCH INFO
The match will kick off at 12.15pm at Molineux on Saturday 16th March, it will be shown live on ITV in the UK..
Harleigh Hepworth, 17, from Staffordshire, was found with fatal stab wounds in West Park on 7 March. The aspiring footballer, who was an avid fan of Wolverhampton Wanderers, has been described as an “all around lovely lad” who was “fun, kind and an amazing friend”. To honour his memory, his friends are asking spectators at Saturday’s FA Cup match to clap for 60 seconds at the 17th minute as a tribute.