Wolves boss Mick McCarthy today hailed chairman Steve Morgan’s public show of recognition as evidence of the depth of the board’s support.

Morgan took the unusual step of going pitchside to congratulate his manager and the players after yesterday’s 1-0 derby win over Blues.

Despite handing McC-arthy the funds to strengthen the squad in January last week, the chairman’s public show of support was interpreted as the dreaded vote of confidence by some.

McCarthy has retained Morgan’s full backing throughout this tough period, despite one tabloid paper yesterday claiming he had two games to save his job.

And the Molineux chief said Morgan’s gesture merely reflected their relationship after the victory left Wolves just a point from safety and gave them their first clean sheet in 23 games.

“It wasn’t over and above anything else because that’s the way Steve is with me,” said McCarthy.

“I don’t have to see Steve come down to the pitch to have that nice, warm feeling of support because I know it’s there.

“But when he does, it’s there for everyone to see and it was nice it was confirmed to the fans. He’s feeling it like the rest of us being in the bottom three and not getting results but there’s never any suggestion of anything else.”

Victory came despite McCarthy being without 11 players, while Stephen Ward played up front for the first time in more than two-and-a-half years. “We’ve coped with the injuries because we’ve got a good group of lads,” he said.

By Tim Nash