Wolves comment: This season deserves to have a silver lining

An FA Cup quarter-final place is at stake and this is the game which has got supporters really excited.

For all the fantastic results Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have had in the Premier League this campaign, the exceptional football they have played, this clash with the Robins matters most.

The Cup is the best chance to cement the immense progress Nuno and the players have made over the past several months, to write themselves into the history books.

Many supporters believe – and you cannot blame them, by the way – this Wolves team is the greatest they have seen in their lifetime, and a piece of silverware come the end of the term would put this crop at that esteemed level of the successful side from 1960.

As enjoyable as being seventh in the top flight is, it would not be remembered half as much as travelling to Wembley, twice, and being triumphant.

That all being said, City are not simply going to step aside and let Wolves go one step closer to fulfilling fans’ dreams.

Lee Johnson’s men are determined to get one over Nuno’s charges, after twice coming close to beating them last season.

They will feel they are due a victory against Wolves – making it third time lucky.

But the old gold faithful have waited patiently to be among the competition’s last eight.

They have not been there for 16 years, when they lost 2-0 to Southampton at St Mary’s.

Since then, they have managed to reach the fifth round twice, bowing out with 2-0 losses to Cardiff City and Chelsea in 2008 and 2017 respectively.

For the last semi-final, you have to go back 21 years, when they lost 1-0 to Arsenal.

And they have not got to the final since they won the whole thing in 60, beating Blackburn 3-0.

Wolves have also crashed out at the first hurdle at the hands of Luton Town and Oldham Athletic over the last decade – the first-round replay defeat to the Latics at Molineux in 2013/14 being particularly dismal.

So try telling Wolves supporters the Cup is not as important these days.

Often questions are raised about whether the magic still surrounds the competition, but, for Wolves, you could argue the feeling something special could happen is the most prominent it has been for many years.

After all, look who else is left in the competition.

While Wolves may have needed a replay to get past Shrewsbury, they managed to knock out one of the favourites in Liverpool.

Tottenham are no longer on the competition either, nor Unai Emery’s Arsenal.

And, come the end of this round, one of holders Chelsea or Manchester United will no longer be in it either.

So if Wolves do beat the Robins, there is a very good chance only two teams above them in the top flight will be left.

It would be a fantastic thing for long-serving duo Matt Doherty and Conor Coady, who have been awarded new deals, too.

And rightly given fresh terms as well for their contributions under Nuno.

Coady’s transformation from a struggling midfielder unto an undroppable centre-half has been nothing short of phenomenal.

You have got to think an England call-up is on the horizon for him.

And Doherty, the longest-serving current player, has taken to the Premier like a duck to water.

Having developed a knack for coming up with important goals as well as putting in solid defensive displays, the 27-year-old’s deal is a just reward for the outstanding work he has put in, in recent years.

Both of them are Wolves through and through, and having them committed until 2023 shows no matter how much the club develops over the coming years, that spirited, and very talented, core will be retained.