Bullish Mick McCarthy today set his confident Wolves players a survival-busting target of five wins to beat the drop.

Wolves go to Arsenal tomorrow boosted by last week’s shock 2-1 win against Manchester United which earned them the Performance of the Week award.

McCarthy’s battlers face eight teams in the bottom half of the table in their final 13 games, having won five of their last 11 Premier League outings, and the manager is seeking 39 points to guarantee survival after finishing with 38 last term.

“If we can get another five wins, we’ll be getting close,” said McCarthy.

“That’s another 15 points, but we’ve won five out of the last 11, so it’s there for us.”

McCarthy has led Wolves to stronger second halves of campaigns in all of his four seasons at the club apart from the 2008-09 Championship title-winning campaign.

But such is the difficulty of the Premier League, he warned fans to be realistic in their expectations of a repeat. “We’re expected to win 10 and maybe draw eight in a season,” said the boss.

“So there will be 10 weekends when we’re going to feel like we did against Manchester United.

“And for 20 Saturday afternoons we’re going to feel rubbish because we lost. That’s the reality. Whatever permutation is needed to stay up, we can get it.”

McCarthy also warned his side not to rest on their laurels ahead of the trip to the Emirates.

“I want a better performance because that’s what I think it will take,” he added.