Coady looks back on 'crazy' Cardiff clash

Conor Coady admitted the Wolves players needed a couple of days rest after the breath-taking end to the match against Cardiff last season.

Wolves are this week heading back to the Cardiff City Stadium for another Friday night clash in front of the Sky Sports Cameras – just as it was in the promotion winning campaign.

Wolves were in control of last season’s tie until mayhem ensued in added time. John Ruddy had to be at his best to stunningly deny a Gary Madine penalty and that was before Junior Hoilett smashed an even later spot kick against the bar – practically sealing the Championship title for the visitors.

“I don’t think I’ll ever be involved in a match like that again,” Coady professed. “The actual game itself probably wasn’t the best, Ruben scored a fantastic free-kick and then it all just kicked off the last five ten minutes – it was crazy.

“It was unbelievable, the actual feeling that day and the adrenaline running through you. I think after it we needed a couple of days just to rest our brain never mind our legs. The mental side of it was tough, but from a memorable point of view and the whole of last season it was fantastic.”

The last match featuring the two sides also saw a well-publicised touchline clash between bosses Nuno Espirito Santo and Neil Warnock, but Coady said the two have since patched up their relationship.

“It’s always nice to be friends isn’t it,” he said. “But they’re two brilliant managers – I mean you look at what the Cardiff manager’s done in his career, it’s sensational the way he’s got teams out of the championship and the way he has them playing.

“The way our manager’s come to this club and really turned it around. I think in terms of what he’s done with the players, what he’s done with the whole football club in bringing everybody together, including supporters as well, I think it’s been special and we’ve got to just make sure we keep on listening to him as much as possible to improve.”

Wolves will be hoping to get back to winning ways against Cardiff – a match which starts a run of seven games in 30 days for Nuno’s men - but Coady is aware of the dangers the Welsh side pose.

The captain added: “We’ve seen a lot of their games this season because they’ve done well in the Premier League. They pose a lot of threats, they’re very physical, they’re very big and they’re very direct in what they do so we know how they’re going to play.

“They’re at home and they’ll have their supporters behind them, but we’ll go there with the same mentality that we always do – to win the game and play how we want to play.

“It’s a huge time for us. I’m quite happy it’s here now though because we’ve had a lot of international breaks, a little bit stop-start and you tend to get on a little bit of a rhythm like we did against Arsenal and then you stop for a week, which is a bit annoying.

“I think now the games are coming thick and fast it’s better for everybody. A lot of the lads are used to the Championship football last season where it was 46-game season. You had two games a week, every week, so we’ll be ready for that, we’ll be looking forward to it – there’s some huge games that we need to be looking to go out and win.”

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