Ladislav Krejci insists the Wolves squad are full of belief that they can repeat Tuesday’s impressive Premier League victory over Liverpool when the teams face off again in the FA Cup on Friday night.
The Czech defender was awarded Player of the Match for his performance against the Reds under the Molineux lights on Tuesday, as Rodrigo Gomes and Andre – with his first goal in gold and black – earning just a third league win of the season, but the second in four days.
With Wolves and Liverpool set to do battle once again in the Black Country on Friday, Krejci is urging his teammates to approach the cup tie with the same intensity to try and put the finishing touches to an incredible week.
On victory over Liverpool
“It’s unbelievable. Two wins in a row against these big teams. Aston Villa was third when we played against them, Liverpool are up front of the table, they won the Premier League last season, so it was amazing for us.
“It was very important for us and for our confidence. We’ve shown ourselves that we can beat the top teams in the table, so it’s very good for us for the upcoming games, because there’s still belief there. You never know what can happen, so we will continue.
“I’m happy for everyone, for the players, for the staff, for the fans, that we can have this time now after not an easy period. So, it’s very positive.”
On fighting until the end
“All 90 minutes, or all 97, because many times everybody remembers that we lost many games in the last minute, and now finally, it’s our turn to get something from it.
“We’re working very hard and waiting for these situations. This is the situation that we are in, and we know that we will not out play against everyone for 90 minutes, but with the right mentality and right job we can wait for our moments and make this.
“It gives us a lot of confidence because many times we put in a good team effort but didn’t take any points, or one point, or something like this. I remember Liverpool away, Arsenal away, many other games and this gives a lot of confidence for the players, for the staff, for the fans and for the team in general, so it’s a very good energy.”
On his Player of the Match display
“It was good, but for the goal, I gave him [Salah] the place to shoot. I’m happy, but also little bit unhappy, but in general, we take the three points, and this is the most important.
“Everybody doing the best in the defence, we’re working a lot closer, and not letting many chances, in the middle the guys keep a lot of balls, and up front, they were ready for the situation and score, so it was very good teamwork.”
On repeating the performance in the FA Cup
“You never know! I hope. But I hope we will go into the next game with same mindset like this.
“It’s a big game. Big. It’s a cup game, it’s a competition with a lot of history, but the sky’s the limit. Let’s believe, let’s go into the next game like this and you never know what could happen.”
On using Tuesday’s match to help on Friday
“We’ve been learning a lot during the last games and during the last weeks, not only from this one, but it gives us some picture of what we can maybe come with in the next game.
“But it will be much harder, because they also know our system now, so they will try to find new things where we struggle a little bit, and we need to find our own thing too, but we’re very much looking forward.”
