Dorus De Vries’ double for Wolves
Tuesday 23rd August 2011, 2:30PM BST.
Wolves goalkeeper Dorus De Vries is going for the double at Northampton.
The summer signing from Swansea is a confirmed starter tonight, as manager Mick McCarthy changes his entire team for the second round tie at the Sixfields Stadium, where the club will be playing for the first time competitively.
And De Vries is aiming to avoid a cup upset and put down a marker to challenge No 1 Wayne Hennessey.
The 30-year-old said: “I need to do everything I can to be ready and to try to push Wayne to his limits.
“I want to put in a good performance for myself, the fans and the manager and show I’m ready for a league game.”
De Vries is not alone with the chance to gatecrash the Premier League line-up, with the substitutes from the first two games getting starts tonight to try to put Wolves on the road to success, in a competition they have not won since their second triumph in 1980.
He said: “The season has started really well. It will still be a very strong team that starts tonight’s game and that shows the strength in depth you need.
“There’s no doubt the Premier League is the priority, but the Carling Cup and FA Cup offer the chance to make progress in those competitions.
“While it’s only the second round and we know it will be a tough game at Northampton, who’s to say we can’t progress in the competition?”
Unlike Wolves, De Vries has played at Sixfields before, with Swansea.
But the Dutchman has not got happy memories and knows the Cobblers are capable of an upset.
He said: “I played there with Swansea about four years ago and we lost 4-2.
“So I know what to expect and, although we’re the higher-ranked team, Northampton will be fired up and ready to cause another upset.”
De Vries has had a taste of knockout success after reaching the Scottish Cup final for his first British club, Dunfermline, who lost to Celtic.
He said: “That was one of the highlights of my career.”
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