Richard Walker has praised the overall performance which ensured progression into the under-17 Premier League Cup semi-final.
Wolves navigated their way through Tuesday’s quarter-final tie with Leicester City, as goals from Minkyu Ji, Tom Edozie and Alvin Ayman secured a 3-1 victory over the Foxes at Compton Park. Speaking after the game, head coach Walker was full of praise for the way his team managed the fixture and the quality shown in the final third.
On progressing into the final four
“I thought there were a lot of different aspects of the game and ingredients you need to get through knockout stages of football.
“The first 30 minutes of the game was good. It looked how a lot of our games have looked in terms of the level of control, the level of possession we’ve had and finding our way into the 10 pockets really well.
“In amongst that 30 minutes were two good goals. The first from Minkyu was outstanding to give us a really good start and in the top end of the pitch we looked like we had real quality players and probably the best players on the pitch in those areas.
“We switched off a little bit in the last 10-15 minutes of the first half and disappointed that they got the goal just before half-time because it changes the landscape a little bit from 2-0 to 2-1.
“The second half the boys showed really good game management. In an ideal world we’d have continued to dominate the ball and have total domination possession wise, but they were so aggressive in the press.”
On the goals scored
“They were all pleasing in so many different ways. We talk about the quality at the front end of the pitch. They work their socks off and for me every team in the world with top players have to do that.
“The players have bought into that, but the amount of times we regained it high and committed to the box is a credit to their work ethic and mentality.
“I can’t praise highly enough the quality Minks showed because been out for a while.”
On returning to winning ways
“I think it’s the first time this season, off the top of my head, that we’ve suffered back-to-back defeats so I’m really pleased that the lads got the win today because they deserve it.
“They train so hard and they’re all good players and good lads. They’ve responded well from back-to-back defeats and put ourselves in a great position, which is a semi-final of a cup competition.”
