Carlos Carvalhal Happy to be Going 'Home' After Swansea Book FA Cup Clash With Sheffield Wednesday

Swansea City manager Carlos Carvalhal is relishing a return to former club Sheffield Wednesday in the fifth round of the FA Cup after his team hammered Notts County 8-1 in a fourth round replay on Tuesday, describing the upcoming trip to Hillsborough like going 'home'.

First half braces from Tammy Abraham and Nathan Dyer set the Swans on their way, while a maiden strike from 20-year-old debutant Daniel James completed the scoring late on.

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That sets up an away tie against Wednesday on 17th February. And despite leaving the Sheffield club by 'mutual consent' shortly before Christmas, 52-year-old Carvalhal still has strong feelings for the team he managed for two-and-a-half years.

"I feel that I will be back home," he is quoted as saying by BBC Sport.

"That was my home for two seasons and a half and I was very happy there. We achieved two play-offs, that makes me stay very connected with that club. I will enjoy a lot to go back to Hillsborough soon. I am an Owl forever."

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Under Carvalhal's guidance, Wednesday reached the 2017 Championship playoff final, cruelly losing to Huddersfield on penalties. But the 2017/18 campaign turned into a big disappointment by comparison, prompting his departure, although the Portuguese insists he wasn't sacked.

As far as the performance against Notts County was concerned, Carvalhal was left proud of his players after the 8-1 score-line set a new record win for the Liberty Stadium.

"I talked with [the players] before the game and said to play with high motivation against Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham is normal," the boss explained.

"Our challenge is to motivate the players against teams below. And I said to them to show to everybody how much they wanted to win.

"They are not a weak team. Notts County are a good side, they put Brentford out of the FA Cup away. But we played this game like we did against Liverpool and Arsenal."

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