Wolves were left heartbroken on Saturday lunchtime as Coventry City scored twice in stoppage time to book their place in the FA Cup semi-finals.
It was a captivating contest from start to finish at Molineux, but the result for Wolves was gut-wrenching as they conceded in the 100th minute to lose 3-2 against Coventry.
The visitors initially took a deserved lead in the match through Ellis Simms just after half-time.
Rayan Ait-Nouri, who was moved into a more advanced role centrally, then capitalised on a mistake to score on his weaker right foot before taking on all-comers to assist Hugo Bueno for his first-ever goal in the 88th minute.
At this point, Wolves thought they’d booked their place in the semi-finals, however, two goals in the 97th and 100th minute from Simms and Haji Wright saw Coventry steal victory from the jaws of defeat.
After coming so close to reaching the last four, despite being ravaged by injuries, Gary O’Neil’s men were left heartbroken.
Sadly, being knocked out of the competition wasn’t the only devastating news to come out of Molineux today as O’Neil revealed that Pedro Neto has been ruled out for quite some time.
Gary O’Neil reveals Pedro Neto is out till the back end of the season
Despite announcing the return of Matheus Cunha this week, the Brazilian wasn’t named in the squad against Coventry and O’Neil is still without Hwang Hee-Chan, Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and Neto.
The biggest of their losses is undoubtedly their Portuguese superstar who has recorded 11 assists in all competitions this term despite missing two months of the campaign.
Wolves really were punished for their lack of attacking options this afternoon. Nathan Fraser struggled to lead the line and 18-year-old Leon Chiwome replaced him from the bench in the second half.
After the game, O’Neil dropped a positive update on Bellegarde, who could return to action soon, but he was downbeat about Neto, revealing that the 24-year-old could be done for the remainder of the season.
“Pedro Neto is looking like it’s probably done for the season, and maybe back towards the very end of it,” O’Neil told Wolves’ official website.
Wolves have to cash in on Pedro Neto
Neto has suffered from a long line of fitness troubles during his time at Wolves and this is just the latest setback.
The £50k-a-week star has all the tools in his locker to play at the very top in the football, but injuries are currently holding him back and it couldn’t have come at a worse point in the season.
With Wolves fighting for a place in Europe next season, O’Neil needed his most influential player to be fully fit and unfortunately, that isn’t the case.
Ultimately, this latest blow highlights the need to cash in on their prized asset in the summer.
Of course, Neto’s talent and potential is off the scales, but he’s too injury prone and Wolves have to hope that doesn’t put clubs off buying him in the summer.