Wolves boss Mick McCarthy is optimistic key players Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, Chris Iwelumo, Michael Kightly and Kevin Foley could soon be available after injury lay-offs.

Blake and Iwelumo scored more than 50 goals between them last season and helped Wolves gain promotion back to the Barclays Premier League.

They have been sidelined at the start of the current campaign with hamstring and metatarsal setbacks respectively – with Kightly (metatarsal) and last season’s player of the year, Foley (knee), also out of action.

But McCarthy is confident the quartet may be able to return to training after the international break.

He said: “We’ve got 40-50 goals in Chris Iwelumo and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake sat on the physio table. We’ve got 10 goals a season from Michael Kightly sat on the physio table. Kevin Foley was our player of the year.

Relieved

“To have Chris and Sylvan missing, with all the goals they scored, is a real frustration.

“Blake will be another couple of weeks, Iwelumo might be training when everyone comes back from the internationals, Kightly might be training with the squad after the break and the same with Foley. There is every chance of that.

“I would like all my squad back fit. That would make a big difference.”

McCarthy admits he will be relieved when the transfer window closes on Tuesday.

He said: “I’ll be glad when it shuts because it just becomes frenzied now. You keep seeing people counting down, five days and 23 hours to go, four days and two hours to go, three days and 10 secs to go . . . and so on.

“If we get players in, we get them in. But what I would like back is Iwelumo, Kightly, Foley and Blake.”

McCarthy confirmed that defender Stephen Ward will be out of action for two to three weeks. He is facing a knee operation today.

By John Curtis