The 17-year-old, who signed his first professional contract on Monday, was on the scoresheet again as a crowded Molineux watched Wolves under-18 put three past Brighton. Oliver Tipton and Harvey Griffiths also added their names to the scoresheet to set up an away tie with Manchester United at Old Trafford.
If Wolves were to progress through to the final, Molineux would once again play host, but with a chance of a trophy in sight, Fraser insisted the teams focus is only on Manchester United.
On playing their way from the first minute
“We want momentum. We got the first goal early but then we let it slip. We didn’t stop, we kept on going, kept on pressing and we worked hard until the final whistle and that made us win.
“We’ve obviously studied them and we know what to do against them but I think we just played our own game. If we play well with our own game, I think we can beat most teams. We’ve gone out today put on a good performance and we’ve come out on top.”
On scoring his goal
“I’ve seen the centre backs and I’ve just chased after the ball. I was looking for someone to play it across to but it was just me and the goalkeeper, so I thought just keep calm and place it through his legs and I scored.
“It was important that we got that goal. It was something from nothing as we were under the cosh a bit. I think getting that goal put us in good stead especially going into the dressing room at half-time a goal up – it gave us a lot of confidence.
“After the Tottenham game I had so many chances and I knew today I wanted to put it right and get a goal so I’m happy I was able to.”
On the importance of the third goal
“I think we did well. We kept our shape; we didn’t really lose it and we did really well. That third goal got us over the line. Everyone knew if they [Brighton] got a goal back it’d put the pressure back on us so I think everyone was confident, kept the shape, defended the goal and we knew we’d come out with the win in the end.”
✔️ Persistence
— Wolves Academy (@WolvesAcademy) February 26, 2022
✔️ Composure
Nathan Fraser puts us back in front at Molineux! 💪
📺 https://t.co/NmAc89BKIR pic.twitter.com/SuPV50CZTZ
On playing against Manchester United next
“A lot of people were looking onto the Old Trafford game but Steve [Davis] made us realise that if we don’t make sure we win this one then we don’t get there so that will be the same message for the next match; play our own game, get the win and then once we have the win we can focus on the final.
“Any semi-final anywhere would be amazing but I think going to old Trafford, somewhere I’ve never been, just makes it even more special and gave us even more motivation to go on and win today.”
Words by Tom Alston
