Costa On Target As Blues Book Quarter Final Place

“Both sets of fans were different class and wherever you go it’s always hard”.

“You look at their players and every one is an worldwide, everyone on their bench is an global”.

Wolves manager Paul Lambert on morale after Wolves’ loss to Wigan on Tuesday: “They won’t need picking up or motivating”.

Having worked so hard, the goal naturally sapped some of the impetus out of the Wolves players, who suddenly looked jaded by their first-half efforts.

Earlier, non league Lincoln City caused more than a stir as they knocked out Premier League Burnley after a 1-0 win away at Turf Moor.

The last time Wolves and Chelsea met in the FA Cup was in Round 6 in 1993/94, which saw the Blues win thanks to a Gavin Peacock goal.

The formbook, unsurprisingly, suggests not.

Wolves’ star player is 23-year-old winger Hélder Costa, whose loan move from Benfica was made permanent for a club-record €15m fee in January.

10-man Millwall eliminated Premier League champions Leicester City 1-0, while Middlesbrough claimed a narrow 3-2 victory over Oxford United.

Lambert will also know that Conte is unlikely to be as accommodating with his team selection as Jurgen Klopp was in the previous round.

On Lincoln’s historic achievement in becoming the first non-league side to reach the sixth round since 1914, Conte said: “This a great achievement for them”. Wolves beat Liverpool away and Stoke away.

Costa has scored 16 goals in all competitions in 25 appearances this season. I am pleased to live this story with them.

Conte urged his team not to relax in their fight for silverware as the Blues kept alive their hopes of completing a league and cup double.

Wolves were impressive and could have gone into the break leading Chelsea. It is the beauty of the FA Cup.

Granted, much of this is down to the likes of Diego Costa, Eden Hazard and Pedro, but even if not all of the trio play, Chelsea have more than enough quality in their ranks and all over the pitch to hurt Wolves. Here they were eventually undone by the standout passage of play in the match, put together by some some world-class footballers.

And he believes that at a club of Chelsea’s stature, it is important to have that winning mentality for any competition.