Shropshire Star

Gary O'Neil: Wolves taking FA Cup seriously

Gary O'Neil insists Wolves are taking the FA Cup seriously this season after setting up a historic Black Country derby in the fourth round.

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The head coach played two strong teams over two ties with Brentford and eventually got through, with a trip to The Hawthorns waiting at the end of the month.

O'Neil was delighted with his side's commitment as they prepare for derby day.

"I have mixed feelings about the performance but delighted with the win, of course," O'Neil said.

"The lads have worked unbelievably hard over the two ties to make sure we get through to the next round. We went down to 10 men for 90 minutes at Brentford and everyone worked their socks off.

"Tonight got a little bit awkward for us and we have to dig in and show some resilience with tired bodies out there. They deserve an awful lot of credit for how they've approached the whole tie.

"The league is very important to us and we have big games coming up, but everybody understood the message of how important the FA Cup is to us. You could see that from the work that was put in.

"We gifted Brentford two crazy goals, especially the first one. We were so dominant at the start."

On the Albion clash, he added: "I'm going to answer it quickly and then I'm going to ban all questions on West Brom until we've played Brighton.

"Honestly, as soon as we walked off I was just thinking about Brighton.

"I understand the fans will be excited and it will be a good game away from home.

"It will be a big atmosphere to play in because it hasn't been played with fans in for a while, the Black Country derby.

"We'll be looking forward to it when it comes around.

"I can't wait to lead the team down there and see if we can progress again.

"But there is a Premier League game coming up away from home against a very good team, first."