Wolverhampton Wanderers saw their hopes of Carabao Cup glory dashed in cruel fashion on Wednesday evening, with Julen Lopetegui's side having crashed out at the hands of Nottingham Forest following tense penalty shootout drama at the City Ground.

The visitors had got off to the worst possible start on the night as the returning figure of Willy Boly almost inevitably got on the scoresheet, with the former Molineux titan netting inside 18 minutes after being teed up by another familiar face in the form of Morgan Gibbs-White.

The Old Gold did eventually pull level just after the hour mark through Mexican marksman, Raul Jimenez, with that strike ultimately ensuring that the tie - and a place in the last four of the competition - would be decided on penalties.

With both sides having missed their opening spot-kicks courtesy of Sam Surridge and the typically reliable Ruben Neves, a string of successful attempts left the responsibility on young Joe Hodge to take the shootout into sudden death, albeit with the playmaker seeing his effort saved by opposition stopper, Dean Henderson.

Although the 20-year-old's miss may well have ultimately been the game's deciding moment, the Republic of Ireland youth international had shown great courage to step up to the plate in the first place, with little blame likely to be directed his way.

One man who was something of a villain for the away side, however, was summer signing Goncalo Guedes, with the Portuguese international having failed to build on his weekend strike at Anfield after producing a limp display against Steve Cooper's men.

That simple finish in the 2-2 draw with Liverpool had been just the 26-year-old's second goal since his £27.5m arrival from Valencia, with the forward having yet to truly make his mark in English football to date.

Those woes were laid bare last night as the 32-cap dud was hooked at half-time after making only 32 touches in total in his wide berth, while also recording a pass accuracy rate of just 64%.

That dismal outing was encapsulated by the fact that the one-time Paris Saint-Germain man also lost the ball on 13 occasions, ensuring that he squandered possession once every 2.6 touches.

The struggling asset also failed to win a single duel and was unable to register a solitary key pass to further illustrate his lack of impact, with it having been no surprise to see him replaced in favour of the aforementioned Neves.

As Birmingham Live's Alex Dicken stated, Wolves supporters are still 'waiting for the real Goncalo Guedes to arrive in Wolverhampton', with the misfiring attacker having been 'ineffective' once again.

Although Guedes did make his mark on Merseyside just a few days ago, that already appears a mere distant memory following what was another underwhelming showing against Forest.