Saheed Olagunju had the evening to remember in the Carabao Cup second round after marking his senior Wolves debut with his first goal and clean sheet as he starred against Sheffield Wednesday.
The academy defender was brought into the starting line-up at Hillsborough as one of eight changes made by head coach Cesar Peixoto, but the 19-year-old was not overawed by making his bow, as he showed quality at both ends of the pitch to help Wolves to a 2-0 victory.
Although he was most pleased about doing his job as a defender, Olagunju felt being able to meet Tommy Doyle’s cross with a powerful header to score his team’s second goal just before half-time – which ultimately secured the win for Wolves – was a bonus on an already incredible evening.
On a night to remember in the cup
“I don’t think tonight could have gone any better, to be fair. As a kid, you work hard for this.
“Obviously, first and foremost, being a defender, it’s good to keep a clean sheet, and then scoring the goal at the end was just a bonus, which was good.”
"The more I play and the more I play well, I'll have more trust from the gaffer."
— Wolves (@Wolves) August 25, 2026
Saheed Olagunju reflects on a dream debut 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/naH33GGAnC
On making his senior debut
“I found out yesterday that I was going to start. In training, we’d done a bit of a walk-through and obviously the gaffer told me I’d be starting, so that’s when I found out.
“So, I had a bit of time to be prepared, but I’ve been around the group a bunch now and it’s been a good group this year.
“I’ve just been training with them, learning from them, so it’s been comfortable, and I just felt easy in the game, to be fair.”
On getting through the early nerves
“As you’d expect, the first 10 minutes were a bit shaky, but after that I just got a grip of it and felt good.
“Sheffield Wednesday are obviously a good side, they’ve got good players, and the striker I was up against was good physically. But we obviously back ourselves in every game of the season and just believe we’ll get the win and score.
“But the early goal helped, because we felt comfortable then. I think we felt comfortable the whole way through the match, but obviously scoring the first goal means the pressure is on them now. So we just waited, took our opportunity, and got a good second goal.”
What a moment for Saheed Olagunju! pic.twitter.com/hzVbNtmubg
— Wolves (@Wolves) August 25, 2026
On scoring his first senior goal
“In training I know Tommy Doyle has got a good cross on him, and it’s quite hard to defend, so I was thinking that maybe if I got behind the defender, he might not be able to get to it.
“Obviously, he missed it, and I just thought if I get contact on it, then on target it should go in, which was good.
“After it went in my firth thought was that I was offside, but I looked across to the linesman, but he had his flag down, so I just felt good to celebrate with the team and get the win in the end.”
On making him hungry for more
“100 per cent. The more I play and the more I will play well, then I will have more trust from the gaffer. Obviously, with a lot of games coming up this season in the Championship, it might free up some spaces.
“Hopefully I’ll get more chances and just create myself the opportunities in the future, but we’ll see.”