Express & Star

Wolves Fans' Verdict v Reading: Bittersweet night

Our fans provide their feelings about Wolves' Carabao Cup triumph on penalties over Reading.

Published

Clive Smith

Reaction to the Result

Pleasing to see us win but the sight of two of our youngsters leaving on a stretcher cast a shadow on the night.

There was not much sparkle in our performance but it did provide good experience for many of our young players.

Man of the Match

We might not have the depth of squad we would like in all positions, but we can be relaxed about our goalkeepers.

John Ruddy showed he was as sharp as ever making several good blocks and coming off his line well.

Something to Improve

Our play in the final third needs to be better.

Patrick Cutrone looked so isolated, particularly in the second half, it was nigh on impossible to create any goalscoring chances.

Adam Virgo

Reaction to the Result

Not a great performance but we got the job done and now onto Villa away for the fourth round which sets up to be a classic.

Very unlucky for Bruno Jordao and Meritan Shabani having to be stretched off but hopefully neither of them will be out for too long as they have been key for the U23’s so far this season.

Having ten men gave Reading more hope towards the end but we needed to be better defensively there and keeping a clean sheet would have been vital for the team.

Massive game on Saturday now, a lot of the regulars who were rested will be back so hopefully they’ll be fresh for Watford.

Man of the Match

Jordao looked good for the 42 minutes he played until he had to go off with an injury.

His goal was very fortunate but he looked comfortable in general and certainly looks the most likely out of the youngsters to break into the first team.

Ryan Bennett played quite well in the sweeper role which was good to see and Ruddy deserves credit because he made a big save at 1-0 and also saved one of Reading’s penalties.

Something to Improve

The second half was very poor again, we barely created any clear-cut chances and it was just far too slow at times.

Having a much changed side it obviously disrupts things but even so we had enough quality on the pitch to do more.

Rob Cartwright

Reaction to the Result

It’s good to get through, but Villa is a distraction that neither team really need.

Three away games in six games for Wolves at the end of October will be a big test for the squad which I expect will be fully utilised during that period.

It was a reasonably entertaining game. Wolves were head & shoulders the better team in the first half and played some good football. It was good to see some youngsters make their debuts in the first team.

Reading were on top in the second. They put on their experienced subs and to their credit changed their formation to put more pressure on our midfield and defence. It worked well and as the game went on I had no doubt an equaliser was coming.

Man of the Match

Bruno Jordao had a fine debut and was the best player until he went off injured after just over half an hour. He scored a fortunate goal and we missed his presence in midfield.

Ryan Bennett gets my Man of the Match. He must be playing under some pressure but did not show any here. Defensively solid, he made good use of the ball, making accurate long passes to both wings. He also managed to head off the line towards the end of the game and score his penalty in the shoot-out.

Most disappointing player was Morgan Gibbs-White. He’s so frustrating as it’s clear he has bags of talent but cannot make the final pass or shot when in an attacking position. He contributed very little before being subbed.

Something to Improve

We are yet to see Wolves play an entire game on top form, this season.

Even with ten changes, the pattern of play was similar to Palace on Sunday. We were much the better team for the first half, but did not sustain it during the second.

We should have put the tie to bed during open play, but the penalties were exciting and we had no trouble scoring all four of ours.

Russ Evers (Hatherton Wolves)

Reaction to the Result

Fair play to the fringe players who all played their part in a performance that ranged from encouraging and exciting to patchy and quite frightening!

Reading are on a decent run of form but they were playing catch up once Jordao's fortunate 20 yard strike put us in front early on.

Later in the game Reading put us on the back foot, even more so when we were down to ten men through unfortunate and serious looking injuries and to concede a 99th minute equaliser seemed to sum up our recent bad luck.

Man of the Match

Bruno Jordao and Max Kilman impressed me with Pedro Neto and Ruben Vinagre showing neat touches but it was John Ruddy who stood head and shoulders above all others.

Something to Improve

Consistency is difficult when so many changes are made, especially with a big sprinkling of youngsters (three making their debuts) but hopefully it will be the 'first team' when we travel to the delightful Aston next month.