Coventry reached the semi-final of the FA Cup after scoring two stoppage time goals to beat Wolves at Molineux 3-2.
Ellis Simms opened the scoring for Coventry before Rayan Ait-Nouri and Hugo Bueno made it 2-1 to Wolves going into stoppage time, followed by a Simms second and a 100th minute Haji Wright winner.
The Sky Blues made it five wins in their last seven, including their 5-0 riot against Maidstone United in the last round of the FA Cup, whilst Wolves fall to a home defeat after three straight wins.
Wolves’ small squad will dent Europe hopes.
The recent January transfer window seems to be looking worse after every game for Wolves, due to injuries and an already small squad, the failure to add to the squad looks to have hurt them.
In recent weeks, Wolves have had Matheus Cunha, Hwang Hee-Chan, Pedro Neto, Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and Craig Dawson all fall to injuries, leaving Gary O’Neil with a thin squad.
19-year-old Nathan Fraser has now started consecutive games and 18-year-old Leon Chiwome replaced Fraser at the hour mark in the game, showing the obvious lack of depth after injuries.
With financial fair play worries surrounding the club, O’Neil said after the transfer window that he was not able to bring in the players he wanted.
Only West Ham have used less players in the Premier League this season with 24, Wolves have used 25, and now chasing a European place, the injuries will certainly play a part.
Coventry could play at Wembley three times this season.
Having already booked their spot for the semi-final, the Sky Blues could reach the final of the FA Cup and stand a good chance of reaching the play-offs.
Mark Robins will hope his players kick on from this win and put together a run to reach the play-offs and potentially Wembley for the final.
Coventry played great against Wolves, showing that they can mix it with the top division clubs and if they happen to reach the top flight through the play-offs, this game will give them hope.
In the four games Coventry have played against the three teams that came down from the Premier League, they have only lost one and won one, proving they can rise to a big game.
Leicester will play Chelsea in one of the other three quarter-finals in the cup, and the Sky Blue fans can dream that they draw the Foxes for the game at Wembley if they happen to get past Chelsea.
Rayan Ait-Nouri can become world class.
To think Julen Lopetegui left Ait-Nouri out of his match day squad on occasions, is baffling to Wolves fans as they have seen him more than flourish under O’Neil, now becoming a key player in Wanderers’ squad.
The Algerian has already far surpassed his minutes total in the league this season compared to last, and has enjoyed seeing his goal involvement output go from three to five across competitions.
During this game, Ait-Nouri saw a change of position from left wing-back to almost a free roaming role in the attack, which was successful after drawing Wolves level and providing the assist for Bueno’s goal.
No player had more touches or shots than Ait-Nouri in the game, with only Tommy Doyle bettering his pass succession rate, showing the central part the wing-back showed in Wolves’ failed fightback.
With some of the elite clubs registering their interest in the Algerian and Wolves still involved in financial fair play problems, Wolves fans can just hope he remains at the club over the summer.
Ellis Simms has proven people wrong.
After Everton recalled Simms from his loan spell at Sunderland, the forward failed to show his abilities in the Premier League after appearing just eleven times, scoring one goal.
Now moving to Coventry with certainly some doubters, Simms has showed that he is an able striker, and given the minutes and chances, he can score goals.
Simms took his goal tally to 14 for the season after this game, and has hit red-hot form going into the final games of the season with eight goals in his last four games, including two hat-tricks.
Playing Premier League quality defenders, Simms caused them real discomfort as he contributed to all three goals for Coventry and led the line fantastically.
Playing alongside Coventry’s highest scorer of the season, Wright, Robins likes to play a small-man, big-man combination up front and it has certainly worked with the pairing contributing to 37 goals between them across all competitions this season.
If the pair can continue their great form, Coventry can seriously push for the play-offs and make a good account of themselves at Wembley for the FA Cup semi-finals.