Gary O’Neil says he was desperate to progress in the Emirates FA Cup, even before the incentive of a derby with West Bromwich Albion appeared.
The head coach was speaking before Tuesday’s replay, having returned from a warm weather training camp in Abu Dhabi, and his group are refreshed and ready to go at Molineux. O’Neil revealed that he hopes to welcome Hugo Bueno, Craig Dawson and Mario Lemina back into a group, where the spirit has shone all season, and the head coach is looking for the same again on Tuesday.
On warm weather training in Abu Dhabi
“It was good. We managed to get some training done, the normal training programme that we’d have here, with the lads able to spend the afternoons and evenings enjoying some time together. They’re good for that, getting to spend the whole day with people and getting to know each other. Now we’re back for the FA Cup replay that everyone is excited about.
“The plan before the replay was to do more work over there, maybe train an extra couple of times and try to get some work in on stuff we’d maybe missed because we didn’t have a pre-season. But with the replay and the load some of the lads have had, with a lot of players being away, it was more like a normal week in better weather and being able to enjoy off time together, rather than disappearing. They did bits in the afternoon and went on for food in the evenings, so it was a good trip, refreshed and ready to go again.”
On injuries clearing
“Hugo Bueno trained a couple of times, maybe three times after his calf tightened up. He’ll be in the squad definitely. He’s obviously very important for us anyway, but especially with Rayan being away. Hugo’s fitness, getting him back up to speed is very important. He’ll be an important part of what we’re trying to do during the second half of the season, so we need him fit.
“’Daws’ has missed a few days’ training and hasn’t trained fully with the group, but he’s back available so will be involved as well.
“Mario’s back with the group today and it’s good to see him. The lads are pleased to have him back. We have an important run coming up and it was important that Mario was able to take the time that he needed, but now it’s really important that we have Mario the person back around the place and Mario the footballer back around the team.
“It’ll be a huge lift for us. We need to see where he’s at physically. He’s missed a few weeks now, but I’m hopeful that he’ll be involved again tomorrow, to get him back in the group, and see if we can get him fully back up to speed for the Brighton game.”
365 days of @LeminaM_13.
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On the incentive to get through
“I understand that the fans will be extremely excited about that game if we can manage to beat Brentford. I was desperate to beat Brentford anyway, so it hasn’t added anything for me. I was desperate to get to the fourth round, as you saw with the team selection and the way we approached the first game with ten men.
“We really want to progress as far as we can in the FA Cup. It’s an important competition, but Brentford will be an extremely difficult test. They can frustrate teams well on the road, the 5-3-2 that Thomas Frank is very good at utilising. They do it very well, so it'll be a tough test, especially as we’re slightly down on numbers. I’d love to take the team to play West Bromwich Albion and I’m sure the fans would enjoy it as well.”
On the strong team spirit
“I’m very pleased with a lot of the factors the lads have shown. We went to Sheff United and a lot of people expected us to win, and we didn’t manage to, but managed to bounce back with a big win in the following game. We had a difficult night at Ipswich but managed to bounce back against Manchester City.
“A couple of times we’ve been down to ten men a couple of times and if you look at the stats in the Premier League, going down to ten men generally means you lose the game. We managed to play a long period against two Premier League teams this season with ten men and not lost either. It says a lot for the character of the group, but you can’t live off the character we’ve shown over the past 20 weeks.
“Tomorrow will be another test and we’ll need it again and we’ll need it again next week at Brighton. It’s something you constantly keep working on and trying to improve, and make sure there’s no cracks. There was uncertainty in the summer with the manager and financial situation, and some unsettled players.
“A lot of work has gone into trying to settle that down firstly and create a group that is fully together. We’re well on the way and I’m really proud of the lads and what they’ve managed to do so far. There has been large spells in games where we’ve looked like a really together team, which is really positive from them, considering the noises that were around pre-season.”
