'A really good game of headers and volleys' - Rob Edwards says terrible conditions were a leveller between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Grimsby Town

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Rob Edwards believes the terrible conditions at Blundell Park were a leveller between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Grimsby in the FA Cup. Edwards made the comments after watching his team battle to a hard-fought 1-0 victory against their League Two opponents. Santiago Bueno scored the decisive goal for the visitors on the hour mark in the mud and the rain.

Highlights: Bueno earns Wolves first away win of season to book spot in fifth round

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Rob Edwards admitted that the brutal weather and boggy pitch at Blundell Park was a massive leveller after Premier League Wolverhampton Wanderers battled to a hard-fought 1-0 win over League Two Grimsby Town in the Emirates FA Cup.

Wolves had to wait until the 60th minute to take the lead against their lower-league opponents, with Santiago Bueno producing a clever finish to score the decisive goal.

Relentless rain resulted in large patches of mud on the surface, significantly slowing down the speed of play and forcing both sides to deploy long balls forward instead of short passes throughout the clash.

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The two teams may play at very different levels of the English football pyramid, but Edwards insists that the conditions closed the gap.

"We spoke a lot about mentality," he said after guiding his side to victory.

"This was going to be different for a lot of the boys, and what they have experienced before.

'I nearly slipped over' - Edwards praises Wolves in 'game of headers and volleys'

Video credit: TNT Sports

"We have got a few South Americans, we have got a few lads wearing gloves, there’s nothing wrong with that, but they [Grimsby] haven’t.

"Their manager was mentioning that on the side, so I think it was about mentality and really trying to hit home that it wasn’t going to be easy. It [the conditions] was a massive leveller today."

Wolves will learn their fate in the fifth round when the draw is held on Monday, February 16.

They will be desperate for a successful cup run after a difficult Premier League campaign.

They are currently rooted to the bottom of the table with just nine points to their name, still at risk of beating Derby’s record for the fewest points in the Premier League season.

Edwards praised the Grimsby ground staff for ensuring that the FA Cup clash took place despite the difficult weather.

However, he also admitted the mud made it difficult to play attractive football.

"A really good game of headers and volleys that," added Edwards. "A massive, aggressive game of headers and volleys.

"We had a really good attitude. I’m happy about the mentality today.

"Obviously, the pitch was not conducive to playing beautiful football, but they’re a good footballing team too by the way.

"Obviously, they weren’t able to do that today, just walking on the pitch I actually nearly slipped over a couple of times so how the lads were actually able to have a game of football on there, it was difficult.

"So credit to the ground staff to get the game on in the first place, but yeah, we were professional, limited them to very little.

"Then, one of the couple of moments we had, we managed to take.

"We thought that you could make one or two passes in the final third, just to try and work a good way in."

Wolves will return to action on Wednesday when they go head-to-head with leaders Arsenal at Molineux in the Premier League.

They held relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest to a 0-0 draw in their last league fixture.

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