Wolves 0 Swansea 0 – Five talking points

They couldn't break the deadlock but Nuno Espirito Santo's team enjoyed the better of what was an entertaining third round clash at Molineux.

That was despite playing for almost a third of the match a man down owing to Ruben Vinagre's red card.

But what did we learn from the match? Wolves correspondent Tim Spiers picks out five talking points.

Point proved

It wasn’t the result Wolves wanted, but otherwise you suspect Nuno got almost everything he wanted from this game.

A team that played in the ‘Nuno way’ despite six changes? Check. A number of promising individual performances? Check. Matching Premier League opposition for the third time this season? Check.

There were several positives to take from what was an entertaining goalless draw at a healthily-stocked Molineux, which housed Wolves’ second biggest FA Cup home attendance in the past 10 years (after the sell-out versus Chelsea last season).

While everyone’s attention is fixed on the big promotion prize, a cup run with the squad’s fringe players can do no harm to Wolves’ league form, as we saw in the enjoyable Carabao Cup foray earlier in the campaign.

And what this game did was prove, again, just how far Wolves have come in such a short space of time. Would their ‘reserve’ players in the past five or six years have essentially outclassed a Premier League side for long spells?

They certainly edged this encounter against a Swansea side which featured several seasoned Premier League names including Wilfried Bony, Leroy Fer and wily wingers Nathan Dyer and Wayne Routledge

Wolves fielded a 17-year-old making his first appearance of the season, a 19-year-old who hadn’t started a match since October and a central defender who’d played only 127 minutes in 2017/18.

Both teams made six changes from their last league encounter, but it was Wolves who looked the more accomplished outfit and the team playing to a coherent plan.

Swansea, of course, are enduring a nightmare Premier League campaign and Carlos Carvalhal is only just getting to grips with his new squad.

But take nothing away from a Wolves team that edged them for quality and will fancy their chances in the replay.

Tale of two youngsters

While Vinagre's three-match suspension and the fact Wolves have an extra are obvious negatives, overall there was plenty to take out of this game.

Several players slotted pretty seamlessly into Nuno’s 3-4-3 formation. In goal Will Norris extended his remarkable run of not having conceded a goal for the club, which now stands at five matches and 480 minutes of football.

Alfred N’Diaye had his best game for the club, doing the job of two men in central midfield after Morgan Gibbs-White was sadly withdrawn just before half-time owing to a tactical reshuffle following Ruben Vinagre’s red card.

And Helder Costa produced a display of vitality and creativity, returning to the form he showed at Millwall on Boxing Day after a couple of lacklustre performances.

But most fans will have come away from this talking about the differing fortunes of two of the club's youngsters.

Gibbs-White was a minor revelation in the ‘Neves’ central midfield role, albeit one who surged forward far more than the Portuguese maestro yet still regularly came deep to dictate play.

After showing several glimpses of his talent last season this was the youngster’s first complete performance. That Under-17 World Cup success looks to have done him the world of good. You wondered where he might fit into the 3-4-3 system but he looked at home here, playing with maturity and confidence.

Bright Enobakhare never looks short of confidence either, certainly when he's running at defenders, but in contract to Gibbs-White the Nigerian youngster didn't make a positive impression.

The 19-year-old is a conundrum that's yet to be solved – and at that age, no wonder. Time is on his side. But is he a ridiculously talented and skilful maverick who only needs to improve his end product to be a world beater? Or a player who possesses raw talent and skill who will forever lack the clinical touch and footballing brain needed to succeed at this level, let alone the top flight?

Time will tell, but as previously stated he will need to get a move on if it's to be Wolves that see the best of Bright. Nuno's team are heading for the Premier League unless there's a catastrophe on the horizon and their mercurial young forward will find himself quickly forgotten about if he doesn't start to realise his potential. The Wolves supporters are already losing patience with him.

Promising debut

We saw just 13 minutes of Rafa Mir but it was a promising debut from the young Spaniard.

The less said about his first shot in Wolves colours (a meek 25-yard dribbler that The Simpsons' Mr Burns would have got more power behind) the better, but thereafter he seemed to grow in confidence and was certainly busy – getting away four shots at goal including two decent headers and a couple of nice darts off the last man.

He showed a decent turn of speed and a good level of commitment but most important looked good in the air, a quality Wolves' aren't blessed with in attack.

He also didn't look off the pace, so we can expect to see more of Mir in the coming weeks, perhaps even at Barnsley on Saturday.

Trivial Taylor

Sadly the game was also dominated by a 'look at me' referee in the form of Anthony Taylor.

He got the Ruben Vinagre red right – there was no malice from the youngster but he could have caused serious injury to Nathan Dyer is what was a very clumsy challenge – but little else.

There were a couple of very bizarre decisions from the official. Not giving Swansea a corner when Will Norris clearly produced a fine fingertip save to push Martin Olsson's free kick onto the bar was one. And then sending off Leroy Fer for tripping Helder Costa – a 'take a yellow for the team' foul if ever there was one – was laughable.

Most criminally of all, though, he only gave the Molineux faithful around 30 seconds to applaud one of their own, John 'Foz' Hendley, before kick off, when it was clearly stated there would be a minute's applause.

Remembering Foz

Thankfully that didn't ruin the heartfelt and entirely fitting tributes paid to Foz.

The club recognised Foz's immeasurable contribution to Wolverhampton Wanderers with a touching and emotional video tribute, while wreaths were laid behind each goal and a number of staff and players past and present showed their respects including Dave Jones, Mel Eves, Jody Craddock, Danny Batth and Richard Skirrow.

You suspect the man himself will have been mildly embarrassed about all the fuss, but his unstinting dedication to Wolves and the impact he made on everyone he knew him deserved a fitting tribute.

There was an empty seat in the press box and for a lot of people the place will just never be the same again. Foz will be sorely missed.

It's been an extremely difficult week for the club but the its media team in particular deserve huge credit for their professionalism and dedication.

They have lost a dear friend but continued their tireless work behind the scenes in tragic circumstances.

They're not in it for the plaudits or the praise but they've certainly earned both and are a real credit to the club.