Liam Keen analysis: Over-emotional Wolves throw away FA Cup dream

But for Wolves, to have dragged themselves into a winning position so late in the game, it was criminal to throw it away.

On the balance of the performances, however, Coventry deserved to win. They found a way to disrupt Wolves, create chances and force chaotic moments that ultimately led to three good goals.

Wolves, however, never got into their stride. Even when they had good moments in the first half, they lacked any real goal threat.

The first goal was a well-worked move, but seemed to result in Ellis Simms handling the ball as he bundled it over the line.

For VAR to stick with the on-field decision from officials that had no chance of seeing what happened in a crowded box, is farcical.

Even more outrageous was the several minutes VAR took to come to a decision. Football is dying from the VAR disease.

Despite that, Coventry deserved to lead and it does not change Wolves’ performance. As Gary O’Neil rightly put it, the VAR decision was not the reason Wolves lost.

The inspiration for Wolves’ comeback then came courtesy of Rayan Ait-Nouri.

Moved to play further forward as Wolves desperately chased the game, he expertly took advantage of a defensive error to score the equaliser, before an impressive run and pass set up Hugo Bueno for what should have been the winning goal.

The 22-year-old was already having a brilliant season, but on his return from the Africa Cup of Nations he is proving to be a priceless asset for a Wolves side struggling for numbers.

Ait-Nouri’s display deserved to be on the winning side on Saturday, even if some of his team-mates did not.

From that moment, Wolves should have seen the game out. To have got to the 97th minute at 2-1, from nine minutes of injury time, Wolves should have been preparing for a trip to Wembley.

Instead, a group that has done so well this season, wilted.

The equaliser was another good move to set up Simms for a free header, but Matt Doherty and Bueno – in particular the latter – should have done better to defend it.

Had Toti Gomes been on the pitch, Wolves probably do not concede a goal there and they see out the game.

To then hand Coventry a 100th-minute winner is unacceptable. It was an excellent finish from Haji Wright – set up by Simms – and it proved once again how that attacking pair had bullied Wolves’ defenders all afternoon.

The game was gone. Jubilation turned to despair and Wolves missed out on a massive opportunity to get to Wembley.

Joao Gomes was one of several dejected players at full-time and he had to be physically dragged from his knees.

Any suggestion that this team did not show heart or care is ludicrous – they simply lacked the quality on the day.

They are also a very emotional group and although they have done good work on improving their game management under O’Neil, Saturday proves they still have a long way to go on that front.

The head coach’s job now will be to lift this emotional group from this low, with an important final 10 games of the Premier League season to come.

The international break has come at a good time for Wolves. It allows them to rest, take stock and get over Saturday, before turning their attention to a West Midlands derby at Villa.

Wolves have a number of very winnable games coming up in their race for European football, but they must now do it with several important players on the sidelines.

The injuries to key individuals played a big part in Wolves losing to Coventry and their misery was compounded by the news that Pedro Neto is likely to miss the rest of the season with a serious hamstring injury.

The outlook was slightly brighter on the injuries to Matheus Cunha, Hwang Hee-chan, Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and Craig Dawson, but Wolves are still far from full strength for what was already a tiny squad.

Pablo Sarabia is the only fit senior attacking player left and he failed to make any impact against Coventry.

Nathan Fraser has only recently come back from a hip issue and on Saturday he looked fatigued. He struggled to impose himself and Wolves had little attacking outlet.

Yet O’Neil now needs to put a team out to face Villa that is capable of scoring goals.

He needs to find the right solutions in the coming weeks, or face watching the season fizzle out.