FA Cup: Nuno Espirito Santo tells Wolves not to get carried away ahead of Bristol City trip

Wolves' chances in the competition look good after several big Premier League sides suffered early exits

Saturday 16 February 2019 13:48 GMT
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Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo is not thinking about FA Cup glory despite the competition's wide open look this season.

Early exits for the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham - with Wolves themselves knocking out Jurgen Klopp's side in round three - has presented the opportunity for many smaller clubs to reach the latter stages.

Both Manchester teams and Chelsea are the only remaining representatives from the top six in the Premier League, with that number set to dwindle further as the Blues host Manchester United in the fifth round on Monday night.

Wolves could reach the quarter-finals for the first time since 2003 when they take on Bristol City on Sunday, but Nuno is refusing to look beyond the tie at Ashton Gate.

"We just go game by game, that's the best way. We don't separate the competitions," he said.

"It's another game, the next game. It doesn't matter what competition we are involved in. We do the same things, trying to go to the last detail which can help us compete better. We prepare the same way.

"We don't think about that (the teams that are out) or care about that, the focus is Bristol City. And it will be tough, they have won nine games in a row. They are in a good position, I know how hard the Championship is.

"So it is step by step. The only way we will go through is to compete at the best of our standards, and that is what we will do."

Diogo Jota is a doubt for Sunday's game as he continues to struggle with a dead leg. Nuno will see if the forward can train on Saturday, but he is not the only injury concern for Wolves.

Diogo Jota is an injury doubt for the match

"Diogo started his problem against Everton. It was a big impact, a dead leg, so he's been struggling since then," he said.

"We went to Marbella, and he didn't get involved, but he trained enough to be ready to compete like he did in the last game.

"This week, again, in this game (against Newcastle), he had a knock on the same place, so he didn't train.

"We have one more session to go, to see if he can be considered after, but we have some other players with issues too. We have a training session to go to make decisions."

Bristol City have beaten Bolton and Huddersfield in the FA Cup this season

Bristol City have claimed a handful of Premier League scalps in cup competitions over the past two seasons.

The Robins accounted for Watford, Stoke, Crystal Palace and Manchester United en route to the semi-finals of last season's League Cup, where they were narrowly beaten 5-3 on aggregate by Manchester City.

In this season's FA Cup, the Championship promotion hopefuls knocked out Huddersfield in the third round. City boss Lee Johnson is aiming to spring another surprise.

"I think it'll be an interesting game," he told the club's official website.

"It's another chance for us to challenge ourselves against a top-level team; we've managed to turn over four or five Premier League teams over the last 18 months and the boys are very hungry.

"We hope we can continue it. This club generally performs better as the underdog."

Forward Andreas Weimann (back) is a doubt for City. Johnson also said that another "quite important" player, who he would not name, was "not quite right" ahead of Sunday's clash.

PA

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