Wolves 0-0 Coventry – FA Cup: Live score, team news and updates as Gary O’Neil’s Premier League side look to avoid an upset against their Championship opponents and reach the semis

A great roar goes up as the whistle blows, with the hosts kicking off to get us underway.

The players are massing in the tunnel, as the noise from the stands booms around Molineux, a sea of yellow and black waving flags.

Don’t go anywhere – we’ll be underway in moments.

It’s not over yet – but Gary O’Neil has – thus far – been able to make a remarkable time of it in the Black Country, after accepting a role which felt like a poisoned chalice after the departure of Julen Lopetegui.

You can read more on a potential raise in the offing, below.

Haji Wright and Ellis Simms have a combined 26 goals across all competitions this season, and four in the FA Cup alone.

Simms last picked up a hat-trick against Maidstone, and while the minnows might not have provided the greatest resistance, his confidence should be in rip-roaring form, which could be a huge boost on the road today.

With Wolves’ attack depleted, O’Neil once again turns to Nathan Fraser, the 19-year-old Irish academy star with just one FA Cup appearance to his name.

But the forward knew what to do with it – netting in that replay tie against Brentford in January – and had similar returns in the Carabao Cup, scoring and registering an assist in his first league cup outing against Blackpool back in August.

Fraser has the experienced Pablo Sarabia alongside him leading the line – but all eyes will be on him to see if he can rise to the occasion and keep Wolves in the hunt for silverware.

… and Coventry City have touched grass at Molineux.

… was in 2014. Remember then?

The two teams were scrapping for glory in League One, and the all-Midlands affair ended with an unsatisfying, hard-to-spin-into-a-narrative 1-1 draw.

You have to go further back into their past for the two teams’ last FA Cup meeting – 40 years, to be exact, to 1984, when the tie had to be be played three times to see a result after two grinding stalemates. Wolves eventually fell to Coventry 3-0. They were duly knocked out of the competition about a week later by Sheffield Wednesday for their troubles.

Last week, I was unbelievably proud and impressed with the group, because to have suffered what we had suffered handed a massive advantage to Fulham.

Today, we need to go again. They understand that. No excuses. Every club across the country is missing players, we’re missing players.

On whether he’d prefer to qualify for Europe via the FA Cup or the league:

Both ideally! Either route is fine. I’m not thinking about Europe at all, really.

We were very good managing the injuries earlier this season, and now we’ve suffered a few. But let’s see where we can go.

We’d love to qualify for Europe, but that involves winning today, being prepared to go to Villa. We need to be at our best today, and just trying to push that.

While they can’t expect the low-ball they were fed in the previous round, it’s a good time for the trip to Molineux. Gary O’Neil’s side have been ravaged by injury in attack, and the manager goes without threats including Pedro Neto, Matheus Cunha, and Craig Dawson.

They’ve been on a strong run across all competitions, however, only falling to Newcastle in their last five matches.

Coventry, by contrast, are fully fit and raring to go – even if their league form has been a little more speckled. They currently sit eighth in the Championship – but have recent wins against Watford and Rotherham under their belt.

Our first sighting of, I hope, many makeshift cups, and while this one doesn’t make use of traditional tin foil, the accurate sponsorship ribbons are more than appreciated.

Wolves make two changes from the side that beat Fulham 2-1 last weekend, with Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and Pedro Neto swapped for Tommy Doyle (who injury subbed for the former just 11 minutes into that tie) and Toti Gomes.

Coventry City last beat Watford by the same scoreline in their last run-out, and they see fit to make two changes too, with Milan van Ewijk in for Liam Kelly, and Sheaf featuring ahead of Victor Torp.

Coventry City may have booked their trip to Wolverhampton on the back of a 5-0 humbling of Up-for-the-Cup heroes Maidstone United, but previously saw off Sheffield Wednesday in a sticky two-legged tie in the fourth round, after their straightforward defeat of Oxford United opened their campaign.

Wolves have had a tougher time of it, manfully despatching Premier League rivals Brighton 1-0 in the fifth round, after a feisty – and I mean feisty – derby tangle with West Bromwich Albion before that. Wolves also had to grapple with top-flight opposition in the third round, but although it took two stabs, they evenutally toppled Brentford, 4-3 on aggregate.

Settle in – we’ve got a whole weekend of this, and at the end of it, we’ll have a clearer picture of the all-important road to Wembley.

All your FA Cup quarter-finals weekend questions answered, below.

Hello and welcome to Mail Sport’s live coverage of the first of this weekend’s FA Cup quarter-finals, with Championship side Coventry City roughly 30 mile drive to Molineux to face Wolves.

Kick-off is at the brunch-like time of 12.15pm, but stick around as we bring you all the team news, build-up, and more ahead of a tantalising weekend of knockout football.