Gary O’Neil praised the character and fight his players showed in the FA Cup round draw with Brentford which saw his team battle from behind despite playing with 10 men for the majority of the match.
Following Joao Gomes’ dismissal inside the opening 10 minutes, Wolves fell behind before the break but hit back in the second half to take the game to a replay thanks to Tommy Doyle’s brilliant left-footed effort, and O’Neil was delighted with how his players responded to the early set-back, while also questioning how the game ended with 10 against 11.
On battling to a replay with 10 men
“I’m really pleased. It was probably longer than 80 minutes with all the stoppage time at the end of each half, so closer to 90, so it was an incredible effort from the players. I didn’t think there was much between the teams, even with 10 v 11.
“Obviously, they had more of the ball and more of the territory, but we defended the goal really well, coped with leaving their extra man, and I thought tactically, the players dealt with it really well. We still looked a threat on the counter and there was a real togetherness in the group.
“Going 1-0 down with 10 men, especially with the nature of the goal, there was nothing in the goal, pinballing around in the penalty area, and a real blow to go 1-0 down at that part. So, to put in the second half performance that they did and keep us in the hat was really impressive and a real team performance.”
A huge effort from the stands and on the pitch.
— Wolves (@Wolves) January 5, 2024
Thank you for your backing at Brentford 👏 pic.twitter.com/MEjXIJeFTV
On Gomes’ sending off
“I could see it and I know Joao so it’s difficult for me to disconnect myself from knowing what Joao is and how honest he is and he wouldn’t do anything like that on purpose. But when you look at the incident in slow motion, I understand that it probably doesn’t look great, so I can accept it.
“I find it staggering that they haven’t had one or two sent off. I thought the tackle on Tommy Doyle on the far touchline was straight leg, over the ball, straight down on Tommy’s leg with studs – I thought that was equally as bad as Joaos, and then grabbing Nelson round the throat at the end, my bench were making the normal noises when they saw it.
“I said, ‘It’s alright, VAR will definitely send him off. It’s definitely a sending off.’ But oh no, it’s just a yellow for Lewis-Potter and Nelson can also have a yellow. I was really surprised, but I just deal with my group and what we have.”
On controversial decisions going Brentford’s way
“I didn’t get any explanation. I’m on two yellow cards as well, harsh cards as well, so I had to tread very carefully today. I don’t think I deserved the last two, so I’m not really sure where the line is, so me asking questions and having conversations can result in me being booked.
“I decided to try and not to today, but I will go and see them and ask for an explanation when everything’s calmed down, but the explanation won’t help us really.
“They’re one of our rivals in the league, Brentford, they’re in and around us and we have a player missing for three games, but they don’t. They get to keep all of theirs. It can have a big impact on things decisions like that.”
A thing of beauty.
— Wolves (@Wolves) January 5, 2024
😍💥 pic.twitter.com/eJkEHylsEi
On focusing on the positives
“Obviously, Joao has to miss three games now which is really disappointing for us. I guess one is the replay which is one of the positives from it as he only misses two league games and the form Tommy Doyle is in as well. I thought Tommy was excellent again today, as were a lot of them.
“Matheus Cunha trying to get the team up the pitch on his own, doing two players’ jobs at time to make it look like 11 v 11, Pedro [Neto] getting back involved as well, the backline was excellent, JJ [Bellegarde] as well. I’m really pleased with where the group are in this moment.
“It would have been very easy with the red card and going 1-0 down and say it’s not our year this year in the FA Cup. We’re doing ok in the league, lets get out of here and crack on, but the lads refused to get beat, which is a really good trait.”
On adding a replay to the schedule
“It is what it is. We’ve got a small squad as you could see today. That was everybody who was fit and available here today. We had six or seven lads from the under-21s who were making up the bench, but I quite enjoy it.
“I quite enjoy the challenge. I said to the lads at half time what a fantastic challenge for us, coming here without a lot of key players, down to 10 men, a goal down, and I had full faith we could go and win the second half with what we have, and that’s how I feel about the season.
“The situation that the club’s been in financially, we’re not going to be spending 10s of millions on players, we’re going to be doing it with what we’ve got, and I love working with what I’ve got, so bring on the replay and we’ll give it what we’ve got.”
