Wolves' John Ruddy happy to get a second go at Manchester United
John Ruddy joked he was the only man happy to secure an FA Cup replay as his clean slate helped Wolves hold Manchester United at Molineux.
It was a rare start for Wolves reserve keeper Ruddy, who has found minutes limited since Portuguese ace Rui Patricio's arrival in 2018.
Ruddy is expected to return to the bench for the visit of Newcastle on Saturday but he is anticipated to return to the starting XI for the third-round replay on the week commencing January 13.
And he was delighted to feature in the 0-0 draw.
He said: "Of course (it is nice to get the opportunity).
"It was the same last year. Liverpool here in the third round and then United in the quarter-final.
"We’ve had big games here in the cup.
"For me it’s a great opportunity to get some minutes under my belt. I’m probably the only one who is pleased we’ve got another game coming!
"With the squad we have, we are thin on the ground, there’s no getting away from that.
"It’s going to take everybody in every single competition to make sure we’re competing in every game.
"The first half wasn’t a reflection of what we’ve done this year or last. The second half was more like it and that’s why we looked a better team."
Matt Doherty had a goal chalked off for handball with skipper Conor Coady deflecting Marcus Rashford's shot onto the bar.
And Ruddy stressed he was disappointed that Wolves did not complete the job on Saturday night after Wolves' improved second-half performance.
But the man who helped Wolves to a semi-final spot last term, is determined to secure a spot in the fourth round at Old Trafford.
He said: "The lads have done exceptionally well. They were very organised and limited them to little or no chances at all. We’re ultimately disappointed we didn’t get through the tie on Saturday.
"We were disappointed at half-time with the performance.
"It was a bit lacklustre. But we came out second half and looked like ourselves again.
"We created chances, obviously Doc had the one disallowed and they’ve hit the crossbar after Coady's block.
"I still think we did enough to win it. There’s another game that we’ll look forward to and get the job done up there hopefully."
And Ruddy was full of praise for captain Coady.
He said: "That’s what Coads brings. He reads the game really well he covered well to block the shot and we had the bit of luck we deserved when it hit the top of the bar."
