The No.1 pullout that scores EVERY time
DAVE EDWARDS has come a long way since his days as Joe Hart’s unpaid dishwasher.
The 31-year-old midfielder tries to lead Wolves to an improbable triple today by toppling the Premier League’s runaway leaders Chelsea.
Paul Lambert’s Championship strugglers go into the FA Cup fifth-round clash having already sent Stoke and Liverpool packing.
Edwards had a congratulatory chat with his big mate Hart (inset) after the shock victory over Liverpool and he’s hoping for another tonight.
Shared
Manchester City’s England keeper is currently on loan at Torino.
But the pair keep in touch, as they have done ever since they shared a house together as teenage hopefuls at Shrewsbury.
Hart was actually Edwards’ lodger in the two-bed terraced house, a far cry from when they met up again at the Euros last summer.
But it’s those early days that he recalls, saying: “I speak to Joe quite a lot. I’m sure I will get a good luck message from him, we’ve been big friends since the age of 15 or 16.
“When I got my first house, I had a spare room so Joe moved in for a year or so. He’s very ®Êby DAVE ARMITAGE untidy, I don’t think he will have changed. I used to get sick of doing the washing up all the time.
“He’s a messy guy, he just leaves stuff around everywhere.”
Edwards would love to keep going in the cup after tasting glory with Wales on their run to the Euro semi-finals in France.
He added: “I don’t think Chelsea will take us lightly. They are like the German national team, so regimented, so strong.
“It’s not often they have an off day. I expect them to be fully on it.
“If they do make changes, the players they have coming in are the likes of Cesc Fabregas or Willian.
“It’s going to be a tougher ask than Liverpool, even though we’re at home.”
The shock win at Anfield was forged on the back of stunning Liverpool with a goal in the first minute.
Edwards added: “Liverpool was just one of those days where the game plan worked 100 per cent. We wanted to get at them and in their faces, especially when we knew they had made some changes
“We wanted to start fast and obviously getting the goal so early, suddenly the impetus was on them to break us down. “We fancied our chances anyway, but going in 2-0 up at half-time we were really
confident.
Deadly
“I’ve played in big games where it has all passed in an absolute blur. I couldn’t tell you what had happened in the match. “We’ve got electrically quick players. First half we could have had three or four because we were so deadly on the counter-attack.” While FA Cup glory features high on his wish list, his more realistic double dream is to steer Wolves back into the big time and secure World Cup qualification with Wales. Edwards’ football-mad six-year-old son Jack has filled him in with his own little Chelsea dossier. “He gets it all, he’s football crazy, he
enjoys coming to games. He knows Chelsea are good. He knows who Costa and Hazard are, don’t worry about that!” But four-year-old daughter Evie is offering no tips, with Edwards adding: “My little girl hates football, she despises it. She’s a proper girly girl.”
Edwards has an extended ‘family’ that sets him apart from the pampered footballer stereotype.
He’s set up a charity based around the ‘Little Rascals’ play centre that he also created to help cater for children with disabilities.
“When you are a footballer, you get the opportunity to make a difference,” he said. “I started Little Rascals with my best friend from school, Ben.
“It’s something in the area for children to do. We’ve just launched the charity to help children with disabilities. Ben’s worked with children and the care of kids with autism, it’s just something we wanted to do.
“I go down there – it’s great to see something that we’ve created. It makes me appreciate what I’ve got and just how lucky I am.
“I’m so grateful for everything I’ve got in my life… football, family health. It’s giving something back when you can.”