Mick McCarthy is hoping that midfielder Stephen Hunt’s return to fitness will provide a boost for his Wolves team as they take on Manchester United in the Carling Cup.

Hunt played for 45 minutes against Chelsea, and the Wolves manager is likely to hand him his first start for the club at Old Trafford.

“He’s ready to play,” McCarthy said. “He could have started on Saturday, but whether he’d have finished the game or not was another matter.

“He did well, and had a good impact, like I knew he would. He did everything that I could have asked of him.

“He tracked back against Bosingwa, which is no easy task, and I thought his performance was really good.”

Hunt was recovering from foot surgery when he signed from Hull in June, and McCarthy said he was always confident that any element of risk involved in the deal was calculated and worth taking.

He said: “We knew what we were getting in terms of him as a player, but also as somebody who was injured.

“He’s rehabilitated brilliantly. We guessed it would be October, although we even thought it might be November, so he’s probably in front of what we expected.

“He’s really, really effective, and has an infectious personality..”

And as Wayne Rooney’s dramatic u-turn on his contract brought the role of agents into the spotlight, McCarthy revealed that he had lost on “loads” of deals during negotiations with players’ representatives in his managerial career.

He said: “I don’t know whether it’s just down to the agent, or whether the player wants more money, or if the agent’s getting more money from the other club.

“That’s showbusiness I guess. That’s the way it is.

“I’ve got no qualms about it. If they don’t want to come and play for me, then go elsewhere.”