Wolves boss Bruno Lage urged his players to believe they are on the right path as he collected his first win after a 4-0 success over Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.
It took Wolves almost an hour to break the resolve of a very young Forest side, before two goals in two minutes from Romain Saiss and Daniel Podence finally put them in charge.
Forest, who fielded seven young academy products in their side, saw Francisco Trincao and Morgan Gibbs-White put a cruel gloss on the final score, with goals in the 86th and 88th minute.
Following Premier League defeats to Leicester and Tottenham, it was Lage’s first win since he took charge in the summer.
“The dynamic pleased me. You need time to create the dynamic. That is important for the players. They must continue to believe in what we are doing. It is a process,” he said. “We try to give them confidence, we try to show them the right way when we are working.
“This is the plan. We will continue working. It was a good game; it was the way we wanted to play. We had plenty of the ball, we created chances, we pressed high.
“We are gaining confidence with the work we are doing with this team and we are happy with the result.
“You want to be patient, but not too much. You do not want to confuse that with moving the ball slowly. That is what I said at half-time. We needed more tempo.
“The competition has massive importance for us. The way I live and the way I work is that always the most important thing is the next game. So now we will prepare for the next one.”
Forest boss Chris Hughton, who is under pressure following a string of four Championship defeats, could have done without another loss.
But his team selection in the cup tie was a reflection of the slow recruitment from Forest this summer – and the fact that they face arch rivals Derby this weekend.
“I am incredibly proud of this young group, who would have been excited when they saw the team Wolves put out,” said Hughton. “As soon as we saw their line-up, we knew it was going to be a tough night.
“We had to rely on Ethan Horvath to make some excellent saves. Two of the goals were quite soft and, without those, it would have been a credible result for a side that included seven academy lads.
“We were surprised at how strong the Wolves side was. It could have been a really hard night for these really young lads, but they acquitted themselves really well.
“We held them for an hour. I am proud tonight; prouder than I was when we beat Bradford in the first round.
“We had to work really hard for possession. We will learn immensely from this game. Not least that you cannot make mistakes, without being punished.”
