"The charm of English football" - Wolves defender reflects on FA Cup battle in win over Grimsby
David Moller Wolfe admits he was feeling the effects of Wolves' FA Cup battle against Grimsby in a match he says showed 'the charm of English football'.
The defender made his first start since the last round when Wolves comfortably beat Shrewsbury at Molineux, but this time they faced the elements, a torn-up pitch and a stern League Two side desperate to make life difficult for the Premier League club.
Wolfe was pleased with how his team-mates faced the physical battle to book their place in the fifth round.
He said: “We’re very happy. We obviously knew it was not going to be pretty, and we would not be able to play the football we want to play, so it was just a battle about doing the basics in football the best.
"We did better in the second half, we suffered quite a bit in the first half, but second half we were much better and I think we made the best of it.
“Progressing is all it was about. We knew that it wasn’t going to be a game like the last one in the FA Cup against Shrewsbury. We knew it was going to be tough and that we’d have to fight very hard, and I’m happy that we stood up to it.
“It was quite difficult, especially the first 15, 20 minutes. Then you get used to it and have a bit of a laugh with the opposition, talking about it, and they were also not happy about the pitch.
"You’ve got to make the best of it and I’m so happy that Santi (Bueno) got us the first goal, because it felt like the first team who scored was going to win, and I’m very happy that’s us.
“Five minutes into the game I got snapped in half. It was a good tackle – the charm of English football. I had to deal with it and I’m happy it wasn’t anything serious. Of course, I’m a bit stiff now, but I’ll be ready again.”
In a congested fixture list, Wolves now move on to their clash with league leaders Arsenal at Molineux on Wednesday evening and Wolfe wants to see the same character in the side.
He added: “It’s the standards that we want. It’s the bare minimum, for me, that we go out there and fight and do the best that we can do.
" It’s not that we’d come here and think we’re something, moaning about the pitch, it’s about making the best out of it, and we did it, especially second half.
“It’s an important, and big challenge. They (Arsenal) are first in the table, but we made it very difficult for them a couple of weeks ago, and I believe we can do that again.”
