Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui was full of praise for his players after their Carabao Cup quarterfinal shootout defeat to Nottingham Forest.
After Raul Jimenez had cancelled out Willy Boly's opener, the head coach believed Wolves should have had a late penalty for a foul on Matheus Nunes, but once it wasn't given and the game ended all even after 90 minutes, it meant penalties were to decide the tie.
Joe Hodge missed the deciding spot kick for Wolves, but Lopetegui was quick to highlight the commitment of the young midfielder, and feels the Irishman will learn and grow from this moment.
Lopetegui said, “My reaction is of course negative because we wanted to continue in this competition and I think we fought a lot to get it. It was a very hard match for both teams.
“We started to suffer one goal from the corner, I don't remember another chance for them, and then after we had two very big chances in the first-half that we don't score. In the second-half, we have tried to score, we got one goal, but we had more chances.
“We changed things because they crossed a lot, but we scored a very good goal. After that, we had two or three very good situations. But in the end, it was a pity for the penalties, because this is the way we have lost this match."
He added, “I want to highlight the fight of the players again, because we have played three matches away from Wolverhampton and we haven't lost, but we haven't won. We need to win, above all today because it was a key match to continue ahead and we have a big vision to ahead.
“We have fought a lot and it's a pity for our fans because they are here and offering a big support for us, so it was a pity for all of us, but above all, for them.
“To continue, we have to improve some things. It's going to be a very hard and long race, and after today we have another very important match in front of us, and we have to put the focus tomorrow on the next match."
