Wolves boss Mick McCarthy will field his strongest possible side in Sunday’s FA Cup clash at Tranmere in a bid to regain the winning formula ahead of crunch Barclays Premier League games with West Ham and Wigan.

McCarthy came in for criticism last month for sending out a virtual reserve line-up against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

But the former Republic of Ireland manager will choose his line-up from the players who performed creditably against Liverpool and Manchester City during the festive period even though both games ultimately ended in defeat.

Wolves, currently lying in 15th spot, visit the Hammers next Sunday before tackling Wigan at Molineux the following weekend.

McCarthy said: “It is an important game tomorrow. We want to win it. I will be playing as strong a side as I can play.

Bounce

“We want to win it because we need to win a game. We have just lost two on the bounce against Liverpool and Man City despite playing well and maybe the results don’t mirror the performances.

“It doesn’t give you any momentum for the Premier League but winning a game won’t do any harm (before next weekend) and I don’t see a cup run doing us any harm either.

“Winning is a great habit to have. We’ve had a good run before the last two games. It always feels a better place when you have won a game, no matter who the opposition are.”

Wolves will have to contend with the game kicking off at 6.15pm to accommodate coverage on the Football Association’s website.

McCarthy has sympathy for the fans who will have to make the trip to Merseyside but has no problems with the unusual timing from a playing point of view.

He said: “It’s a new one for me. I haven’t done it before. I’d be more than happy to be playing 3pm tomorrow afternoon.

“But that is the way it is.”