Gary O’Neil acknowledges he is danger of sounding “like a broken record” after Wolves’ difficult start to the season continued with a Carabao Cup third-round exit at Brighton.
Having taken only a single point from their opening four Premier League fixtures, Wanderers suffered a narrow 3-2 defeat at the Amex Stadium.
Goncalo Guedes’ 44th-minute finish switched the momentum of the tie in Wolves’ favour following long-range strikes from Seagulls pair Carlos Baleba and Simon Adingra.
But the visitors paid a heavy price for their profligacy during a dominant second-half display as Ferdi Kadioglu’s late goal secured Albion’s place in round four, prior to an added-time consolation from Tommy Doyle.
“Unfortunately, I have to sit here again and talk to you about a defeat but one that probably shouldn’t have been a defeat,” said Wolves boss O’Neil, who made 10 alterations to his starting XI following Sunday’s 2-1 top-flight loss to Newcastle.
“We made a lot of changes and the team still found a way to function, to function fairly well.
“Once they stopped making errors without the ball, I thought we were really, really dominant.
“The 3-1 sucker punch was a tough one because I think everyone in the stadium felt we were very, very much on top at the point and it feels a bit this way at the moment, which makes these chats with you guys (the media) a bit awkward because you don’t want to sound like a broken record.
“We did enough today to get a result out of the game and we found a way not to again, so it’s a similar theme.”
Brighton head coach Fabian Hurzeler was relieved to progress after “silly mistakes” aided Wolves’ hopes of forcing a penalty shootout.
Victory for Albion stretched their unbeaten start under Hurzeler to six games across league and cup.
“We played a very good first half until the 44th minute,” said the German.
“It’s a goal we should never concede because it’s a lazy transition reaction from us.
“It’s something we can’t accept, it’s something against our identity, and we have to learn out of these moments quickly.
“In the second half, Wolves tried everything to score the second goal.
“We made silly mistakes. We made too easy mistakes. We weren’t clean and clear like we were in the first half.
“With the third goal from us, I think the game was decided.”
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