Mick McCarthy believes Matt Jarvis is back to his best, but feels critics were too quick to write him off when his standards dipped.
Wolves boss hails winger, but calls for expectations to be lowered
Mick McCarthy believes Matt Jarvis is back to his best, but feels critics were too quick to write him off when his standards dipped slightly.
The Wolves winger enjoyed a standout 2010/11 campaign, with his consistency earning domestic and international plaudits.
Jarvis' form was so good he was handed his first England cap as a substitute in a friendly against Ghana at Wembley in March, in addition to scooping Wolves' supporters and players player-of-the-year prizes.
Yet the former Gillingham wide-man has found it a struggle to maintain that form.
Indeed, he was left out of McCarthy's starting line-up for a couple of games before being reintroduced at Chelsea towards the end of November.
Fantastic
Since then, Jarvis has been excellent and his performance was praised by McCarthy on Saturday, even though he was unable to prevent Wolves suffering a 4-1 defeat to Manchester United.
"It was a fantastic performance from Matt," said McCarthy. "He showed everyone he is back to his best."
He added: "I just wonder why it should be expected that a player like Matt Jarvis, who has done wonderfully well coming to us from Gillingham for £600,000 and then getting picked by England, would do it week in and week out.
"He plays for a team that can't get the ball to him as often as we would like.
Damage
"I wonder what damage he would do if he was playing for Manchester United or Manchester City?
"He continues to be one of our top players, but he can't do it all the time. I accept that."
While quick to hail Jarvis' return to form, McCarthy is slightly more concerned about the current state of Steven Fletcher - with the Scottish forward forced off at Old Trafford with a calf complaint.
"We need Fletch fit and we weren't going to get four goals to win the game so I think it was wise to take him off," said McCarthy.
"He has been terrific when he has been fit and prolific and I need him prolific in the next two games (against Stoke and Norwich) as well."
