Wolves avoided an FA Cup upset by beating Bristol City 2-1 at Ashton Gate to reach the fourth round of the competition.
First-half goals from Rayan Ait-Nouri and Rodrigo Gomes put the Premier League visitors in control and underlined the gulf in status between the two teams.
Scott Twine halved the deficit with a brilliant free-kick on the stroke of half-time and Wolves – who hit the post twice in the second half – survived a late scare four minutes from time.
Twine flashed over an angled free-kick to the far post and Ross McCrorie headed against the underside of the crossbar before Wolves just managed to hold on.
Pereira: The Wolves' priority is the competition
Wolves manager Vitor Pereira:
“It is a special competition. Tradition. Our priority is certainly the competition. But because we do not have time for training and I want to improve certain behaviors, it is important to use the games for that. We will have time.” to recover for the next match.
“What I realize is that this game is very difficult. If we come here and play in our suits, we have the quality to win.
“But we shouldn't just come here to enjoy. We have to show the right mentality because they have the level, intensity and physicality (that suits us).
“We started strong because if they get the confidence they will win the match. The championship has quality and the matches are very difficult.”
Manning: We want to test ourselves at Premier League level
Bristol City head coach Liam Manning:
“The first 25 to 30 minutes were a very good lesson in terms of the boys' intention to press and the desire of the formation was good at times.
“But if you're half a meter away you get picked out. We were a bit disappointed with the ball but we got back into it, which speaks volumes for the resilience of the boys. In the second half I thought we had a had given us an advantage.” really good account of ourselves.”
“Everyone has the ambition to get to the Premier League, so you want to test yourself at that level.
“It was good for us to see where we are and what we need to do to get better. It's definitely something to take confidence from.”
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