McCarthy confident Wolves will win derby match
Wolves manager Mick McCarthy has confidence in his injury-hit squad ahead of their derby match against West Brom tomorrow.
Wolves manager Mick McCarthy has confidence in his injury-hit squad ahead of their derby match against West Brom tomorrow.
A number of key players missed the win against Birmingham, and although McCarthy is encountering a similar problem this week, he insisted he has no qualms about naming an unchanged team if necessary.
He said: "They were brilliant last week, the team that played were excellent. I'd have to have a really good reason to leave them out."
That reason may come in the form of winger Matt Jarvis, who was due to train this morning after shaking off the knee injury which kept him out of the 1-0 win at Molineux.
Midfielder Dave Jones, who trained today after recovering from a foot complaint, is also in contention.
However, Kevin Doyle's injury is more serious than first thought. Scans have shown that he suffered a tear in his thigh and McCarthy is not sure how long the striker will be out — although he will miss tomorrow's match.
McCarthy insists he was not surprised at how well his makeshift team did last week.
"It's almost like I've dragged them in from somewhere else," he said. "These players are part of my squad and I said last Friday that the team I had playing was a good team and they proved that on the Sunday, and that remains the same.
"All those players think they should be in the team and they proved it last week, they were great."
McCarthy singled out striker Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, who provided the assist for Stephen Hunt's goal, for particular praise.
"It's not only about scoring goals for centre forwards, there's all the other parts of his game and he did all that really well," said McCarthy.
McCarthy has been impressed with West Brom.
"I think they're a good side. They've got good players who play some very good football," he added.