After Michael Oliver blew his whistle to mark the end of normal time at Wembley on Sunday, less than 90 seconds after Troy Deeney had blasted in the penalty that levelled the scores between Watford and Wolves at 2-2, the teams gathered on either side of the halfway line to compose themselves before half an hour that would test the limits of their physical endurance and decide the game. For the Watford players, who had dragged themselves back from a two‑goal deficit with 11 minutes to play, all uncertainty had gone.

“Literally, there was no doubt in our minds that we were going to go on and win it,” says Andre Gray. “We were all egging each other on – we all knew that this was our time. We didn’t score in the last minute for no reason. It was our time. We knew that they had stepped back and weren’t pushing forward as much, and we just felt like we had them. It was just a matter of time.”

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During the few minutes before extra time got under way, after club staff had rolled out a few massage mats and given players restorative rub-downs, the squad gathered in a huddle. Deeney was one of those who spoke.

“He said the same thing everyone did: ‘We’ve got this,’” Gray says. “‘They’re on the back foot now, they’re scared, let’s not take our foot off the gas, let’s go hell for leather and keep going.’ I don’t think many players have played 120 minutes that intense but our fitness levels were incredible. It shows a lot. But we just knew we had them at that moment, and we just needed to keep our composure.”

Gray had started one league game since October, Gerard Deulofeu having been Deeney’s preferred partner for all major matches since his return from injury a couple of months into the season. But the Englishman’s impressive performances off the bench in recent weeks earned him a place in the starting lineup at Deulofeu’s expense.

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Gray carries the literal scars of a difficult upbringing in Wolverhampton and against his hometown club and in the biggest match of his career he missed the two best chances his side created before their late fightback but refused to be downhearted and set up the winning goal for Deulofeu in the 104th minute.

“It’s not always plain sailing; sometimes it’s about digging in there,” he says. “I’m not going to be at my best in every game … It’s the semi-final, by far the biggest game of my career, it’s a lot of pressure for me and coming from Wolverhampton as well, you’re eager to do well.

“In the back of your head you’re thinking you want to shut everyone up. That’s how it is. Luckily Gerry [Deulofeu] has come on and scored two goals, and I managed to get the assist in extra time. At the end of the day no one cares about who played well. It’s a team game. It doesn’t matter how you win, it’s just about winning.”

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Watford have lost each of their last 10 meetings with Manchester City – two of them in the FA Cup – by an aggregate score of 32-6, and their task in next month’s final against Pep Guardiola’s side will be daunting, but the players insist it is a game they can win. “We’ve got different ways of playing, we’ve showed that all season,” says Gray. “We can outplay teams, we can pass teams off the park, and when it’s not going our way we can play dirty and we can rough people up and show that side also. We’ve got two ways of playing and we can scare anyone and do anything this year. We’ll go in as underdogs but we’ll be there to make history. Hopefully we can do that.”