Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Head Coach Gary O’Neil was satisfied with his team’s performance, after his team managed to defeat Brighton 1-0 in the Fifth Round of the FA Cup.
O’Neil prepared his team well and was happy with they way Wolves could keep Brighton limited. “We made a conscious decision really, before the game, that when we went away to Brighton in the league, we went really aggressively, because the lads were in a decent spot at that moment physically. And I just felt today, if we’d have opened up the pitch with them having the extra day and the boys being as tired as they were, we would have maybe come out on the wrong end.
“[It was a] conscious decision to make the pitch a bit smaller today, if we could accept that Brighton would have more of the ball, but could we punish them for certain situations that arise if they make a mistake in the build up, if they leave themselves 1v1 transition and we scored an excellent goal,” he added.
O’Neil was also happy with the shift every player put in to get a result. “I didn’t feel under massive threat. I think XG-wise was probably similar. I haven’t seen it, but I would guess our chances had a real high value on them. Some of them we had some great opportunities and theirs were more crosses in the box or shots from long range.
“So [I] thought the lads carried out what was asked of them, exceptionally well, protected José Sá, defenders protected José, midfielders protected the defenders. Front boys worked their socks off to protect them.”
Injury worries ahead of visiting Newcastle United in the Premier League
While Wolves managed to qualify for the Quarter-Finals in the FA Cup, their next task awaits them at St James’ Park, visiting Newcastle United. The FA Cup game did come with casualties.
“Mario [Lemina]’s fine. Mario’s was a kick. So we’re hopeful that that will settle down in a couple of days. And when I said to him, “How are you?”, he said, “I’ll be there on Saturday”, so he’s fine,” O’Neil assured the fans on Lemina’s injury.
However, in terms of the injury to Hwang Hee-chan, the English manager is not as optimistic. “Hwang unfortunately didn’t get through it. He felt something in his hamstring, small, like nothing like Pedro Neto’s or Matheus Cunha’s, a really small one. And obviously he’s had a sort of tough spell while he was away. He wasn’t fit for much of the camp with South Korea.”
O’Neil now have to make tactical changes to his side, as now both Hwang and Matheus Cunha will not feature in their travel up north. “I’d be amazed if he plays at the weekend, so at least I get to enjoy another couple of days of who plays up front on my whiteboard, try and figure out the number nine conundrum for another couple of days.”
