Vitor Pereira insists he is not thinking about leading Wolves on a cup run following a fourth round win away at Blackburn Rovers, but is instead taking it one game at a time with Liverpool up next in the Premier League.
Although Blackburn were the stronger side in the opening half an hour at Ewood Park, Wolves more than grew into the game as the scored twice in two minutes ahead of half time, before coming close on several occasions to add to their tally after the break.
But the head coach was pleased with the way his players approached what could have been a difficult cup tie against a side pushing for promotion from the Championship to earn a place in the hat for the fifth round – the first time Wolves have reached this stage of the competition in back-to-back seasons since 1995.
On claiming the win against Blackburn
“It was a very tough pitch, against a good team away, and in these kinds of games, the games that I watched yesterday, were very difficult for the opponents, even when you have a team in the third division against a team from the Premier League.
“This is because if you don't come with the right mentality, you have no chance to win. But we came with the right mentality to play a tough game and I think we deserved the result.”
— Wolves (@Wolves) February 9, 2025
On growing into the match
“When you come the first time to play in this pitch, it’s not easy. Even for technical players, you have time that you need to take to adapt to this pitch, and it was my expectation that the first minutes were going to be very difficult for us, because we weren’t used to playing here, and they are adapted well.
“They adapted to playing on this pitch with a different ball, that’s another problem, with strong wind, so it's not easy, but when we started to find the spaces, when we started to understand where the spaces were to go and to move, and we score two goals.
“After two goals, we had the confidence and in a second half, we had more chances to score. They have one or two, but we have three or four. When I spoke to the players, they said to me that was very difficult to control and to score in this pitch, but I'm happy. I'm proud of my players.”
On Marshall Munetsi’s debut
“He’s a strong player. The three players that we brought in this window, they are strong – physically strong, and they can add a lot. They can help us a lot in this long season that we have to face.”
Job done 👏 pic.twitter.com/wyX0A9Nf3X
— Wolves (@Wolves) February 9, 2025
On two wins in succession
“Before the game, I said to them, ‘At the end of the game, we must answer a question, and the question is, are we going to be proud of ourselves?’ It means that we did everything today to help their teammates, to help the team, to help the club and to win the game. This is the answer in the end of the day. This is the answer that we must have after every games.
“We need to be consistent. Our intention must be to increase the level from the last game, not to just be happy with the game and think that just because we won, we are there – no. We know that each game is a different challenge for us and we need to come with the right mentality to face them
On building momentum
“For me, when I come to play this kind of game, for me, it’s another game, and another game that I want to see my team improving from the last game. Our conversation was about what is possible.
“We played a strong match against Aston Villa, but if you don't come here with the same spirit in the end of the game, you will not have an answer for this.
“It means that this is the moment to increase the level game after game, giving chances for other players to play, to give them the confidence, to show them that I have confidence in them, and it’s a pity that I didn't have the chance to give more chances for more and more players. This is the only pity that I got from this game.”
☝️ @GomesOficial08
— Wolves (@Wolves) February 9, 2025
pic.twitter.com/YwHbvznW96
On wanting a cup run
“In my career, I’ve had a few moments like this, when I was waiting for one thing, but another thing would come, so it means that I don’t think about this [going far in the FA Cup].
“I will not sleep well just because we won the game because our next opponent is Liverpool and I'll start to think about Liverpool as soon as I get onto the bus.”
