The former England goalkeeper’s experience of lower league football could be crucial to Wolves as they take on the National League North side, as he understands that although there might be five divisions between the two teams, the players in gold and black will need to match the effort and desire that will be on display from their opposition, who have reached this stage of the competition for the first time in their history.
On getting momentum from an FA Cup run
“Every game is massively important now and we use the old cliché here that it is one game at a time. It’s always been that way since I’ve been at the club, the manager has only worked in that manner.
“Chorley’s a huge game for us, it’s the biggest game of the season, because it’s the next one and we have to go there with a desire and a determination to make sure we’re getting the result to get through to the next round.
“Hopefully that will carry on and produce better form within the league as well.”
On reviving Wolves and Chorley’s history
“These are the ties that the FA cup is renowned for, and for Chorley, it’s obviously very disappointing that they haven’t got the fans in. As we saw with Marine and Tottenham, that game with fans would have been a fantastic spectacle for everybody to watch.
“But this Friday is going to be no different. We’ve been used to big stadiums with no fans so to be at a smaller stadium with no fans, we should hopefully take it in our stride.
“I’ve been made well aware of the game from 1986 and I think we all have as a group, so we are determined for that not to be the case this time around. We can only make sure we do that by approaching the game in the right manner.”
On what to expect from the Magpies
“It’s an interesting test. We’ve been given what many people would feel is a favourable draw against Chorley, but we’re not taking it for granted at all. We’ve seen what they’ve done, we’ve seen that they’re in the fourth round for reason. If we go into that game with one eye on Southampton or Arsenal, then we’re going to come undone. It’s as simple as that.
“We have to be professional, we have to be diligent in our preparation, and we have to be aggressive and ruthless in all the things that we’re going to expect to face from Chorley.
“We have to match their fight, their effort, and their desire more than anything, and hopefully our quality will shine through, because, ultimately, that is their best route to get a good result. If they go up against us and play football, we’ve got superior footballers – that’s no disrespect to them, that’s just how it is.
“We have to make sure we’re bringing everything else to the table on top of that and make sure we are fully focused, 100 per cent, on Chorley, which we all know is going to be a very tough game, and we’re all going to have to perform to make sure we get through.”
Working the keepers.
— Wolves (@Wolves) January 21, 2021
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On reaching the semi-finals in 2018/19
“We were obviously bitterly disappointed how that semi-final went. We felt we certainly should have had that game done and dusted long before extra time, and this year is another opportunity to try and have a crack at it.
“Last year was disappointing, losing in a replay to United in the third round, but we’ve given ourselves a chance, we got a good result in the last round, and we’re going in to a tough game on Friday night, but we are confident that we can come through it, which sets us up nicely for another tough game in the fifth round.
“We can’t look too far beyond Friday. It’s going to be an extremely difficult game, in tough conditions, against a team who are rightly on a high. They’ve earned the right to be there and they’re going to be doing their hardest to make sure they show people up again.”
