McCarthy - We are improving

Wolves boss believes his side are getting better with each game

By Richard Bailey   Last updated: 29th October 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

McCarthy - We are improving

McCarthy: Confidence is growing

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Mick McCarthy believes his inexperienced squad are getting better with every game they play in the Premier League.

Wolves' starting XI against Aston Villa at the weekend was short on top-flight appearances, but they held their own against their Midlands rivals.

The Molineux outfit are hovering just above the bottom three but, with two successive 1-1 draws in their last two games against Everton and Villa, McCarthy is pleased with his side's current form.

"How many of them had played in the Premier League before this season? Only four I think, so they are having to learn on their feet," he said.

"But I was speaking to the players in the dressing room after the Villa game and I said 'we've played 10 games and we are getting better'.

"Those performances in the last two games with Everton and Villa showed a bit more nous and solidity about us - and we looked like we could open teams up as well."

Self-belief

The former Republic of Ireland boss highlights confidence is growing in the camp but adds that his players must not let their performances drop with a tough test at Stoke coming up on Saturday.

"I think our performances have justified self-belief and confidence but, of course, it is all down to the finer details in matches," he added.

"It is whether we concede through not defending properly, or whether we finish when we have created a good chance and don't manage to have the end product.

"It's at either end but I think our performances in general have been good."

McCarthy has giant striker Stefan Maierhofer available for the short trip to Stoke after suspension following his sending-off against Everton and the Wolves manager confesses the club could not appeal the decision.

"If we could have appealed, I would have appealed," he added.

"It was a nonsense. The second yellow card was just a joke and (Everton goalkeeper) Tim Howard pushed Stefan in the back of the head.

"I spoke to the ref (Stuart Attwell) and he said (hitting) the back of the head is a grey area. It was unnecessary. It wasn't justified but we couldn't appeal. If it had been a straight red we could have."