McCarthy staying positive

Boss maintains Wolves can beat the drop

By Jamie Casey   Last updated: 9th February 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

McCarthy staying positive

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Mick McCarthy is adamant his Wolves side are capable of escaping relegation from the Premier League ahead of their meeting with Tottenham on Wednesday.

Wolves, who have just 21 points on the board, are currently in the relegation zone and suffered a demoralising derby defeat to Birmingham on Sunday.

Leading since before half-time, a Kevin Phillips double from the bench turned the game on its head in the final ten minutes, leaving McCarthy's side empty-handed.

The former Republic of Ireland boss is refusing to dwell on the defeat, however, and maintains his squad has what it takes to keep the club in the top flight.

"I do believe that we have got it and what you see is what you get from me. I am not any good at acting," said McCarthy.

"It is irrelevant what anyone else does and we were never going to stay up on 21 points.

"We are going to have to get near to 40 points. I don't think you will need 40 to stay up but we certainly need another 16, 17, or 18 points.

He added: "But we are capable of doing it and that is what gives me the confidence."

Responsibility

Although McCarthy admits the weekend defeat at St Andrews has hit his group hard, he has taken it on the chin and admits it is his responsibility to make his players do likewise.

"After the Birmingham game it was the worst I have felt in a long time," said the 51-year-old.

"But you get better at dealing with that as you get older and I have to go round lifting other people.

McCarthy stressed the importance of dropping their losing mentality as they head into the Spurs clash at Molineux, a meeting which saw Wolves grab a 1-0 win in the reverse fixture earlier this season.

"We are all hurting but we have got another game to plan for and we have made sure the players won't take that into this game," said McCarthy.

"What we want to do is to take the performance against Birmingham into the game, not the result.

"We did play well. We just need to be more clinical. We could have managed the game better.

"When we were winning 1-0 we could have kept the ball better rather than keep charging forward. But you only learn about the Premier League by playing in it."

Tottenham clash

After a 0-0 draw with Aston Villa on Saturday, Tottenham surrendered their fourth spot in the Premier League but remain strong contenders for the vacant UEFA Champions League spot.

McCarthy is aware Harry Redknapp's side will come to Wolves in search of a revenge win, but admits he relishes the underdog role when up against the league's big sides.

"Arguably they are a top-four side," McCarthy said of Tottenham.

"They will not have enjoyed being beaten by us, that's for sure. I guess revenge would be sweet for them.

"They are a talented team and they have more of a steely edge to them now with Harry Redknapp in charge.

"They play lovely football and that competitive edge makes them a very good side. Everyone can see what a threat they have in attack with Peter Couch and Jermain Defoe.

"We will have to play at our optimum to beat them like we were when we beat them down there.

"Our players left nothing on the pitch and it will have to be the same this time. We will be the underdogs and punching above our weight and that inspires you as well."