Craddock breaks silence on Palace

Wolves defender Jody Craddock has broken the silence of the players admitting they let themselves down over their Crystal Palace debacle.

No player has spoken publicly since Tuesday's FA Cup exit until now and the club's most experienced player believes lessons must be learned from the midweek setback quickly, as they prepare to face Birmingham at St Andrew's on Sunday.

He said: "It was a big disappointment for the players and the fans who travelled down there. We wanted to go as far as we could in the Cup, we didn't and we let ourselves down.

"It was a poor performance but now it's down to how we react to it after looking into where we went wrong.

"Maybe it was the kick up the backside that we needed."

Craddock was as mystified as anyone at the way Wolves surrendered.

He said: "We've been defending well, which is why it was so disappointing on Tuesday night. But it's important we don't make the same mistakes again,because it was better that it happened in the FA Cup than the Premier League."

Wolves' squad sat through the 'video nasty' from Selhurst Park yesterday afternoon and Craddock insists the players know exactly how mistakes were made.

He said: "We looked through it yesterday to see where we went wrong. It came down to basic mistakes and seeing it on the video puts it in your heads for the next time it arises.

"But we need to get closure from it and move on. We can't keep dwelling on it but we have to learn from it, so we don't make the same mistakes again because we've got a massive game on Sunday and it's really important we take something from that."

It took Premier League leaders Chelsea to end Blues' record-busting 15-match unbeaten run and Craddock admits Wolves have to be a "full tilt" to get anything from St Andrew's.

He said: "Credit to Birmingham, they've been fantastic this season. They've really kept things tight, defended well right through the team and not just at the back.

"They've had some good results and it's going to be a tough game, so we've got to be at full tilt if we're to get something from it."