Football: Soccer-Coventry boss Robins ‘immensely’ proud after Wolves FA Cup upset

(Reuters) – Coventry City boss Mark Robins said he was “immensely” proud of his second-tier side after they dumped Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers out of the FA Cup with a 3-2 win on Saturday to reach the semi-finals for only the second time ever.

The Championship side scored two injury-time goals in a roller-coaster tie at Molineux Stadium to book a ticket to Wembley, thanks to an Ellis Simms brace and Haji Wright’s 100th-minute winner.

Robins said his players showed “real courage, real determination” to come back late after going 2-1 down before stoppage time.

“Immensely (proud). It’s really hard to put into words really. It’s been a long time since it’s happened really, and the fact we were not only a goal down but we’d got back into it and went on to win it and deservedly so,” Robins told ITV.

“We created some really good openings. Some of the football we played was really good and I’m really proud, it’s a really proud day.”

Robins said the club’s owners had certain expectations since their takeover last year.

“I’ve been tasked with quite a bit this season, the new owners have wanted a cup run, they’ve got a cup run, they’re getting a cup run and also, we need to try and get into the play-offs three out of five years,” he said.

“It’s not an easy feat, not an easy task but I’ve got incredible support and staff around the team whatever the score-line is. It drives you on, it just gives you the energy, it’s absolutely outstanding.”

Coventry suffered heartbreak when they were beaten by Luton Town 6-5 on penalties in the Championship play-off final at Wembley Stadium in May last year.

Currently eighth in the Championship standings, Coventry will have to wait until Sunday to find out their next FA Cup opponents.

“Don’t spoil it. Reality bites, and you look at who is left in the competition, we know we’ve overcome a real giant today, a really good team, a lot of injuries as we’ve spoken about in the lead up to this,” Robins said when asked about making history after last year’s loss to Luton.

Manchester City, Newcastle United, Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool are among the Premier League clubs left in the competition, while Leicester City are the only other Championship side alongside Coventry.

(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru; Editing by Hugh Lawson)