McCarthy wary of dynamic Reading

Wolves manager Mick McCarthy believes the Coca-Cola Championship leaders will be facing "the most dynamic and arguably the best team in the League" when they visit second-placed Reading tomorrow.

Wolves take a five-point cushion to the Madejski Stadium but have not won in the league since Christmas.

They have thrown away leads in each of their last four Championship games, taking only three points from a possible 12, and only the stuttering form of fellow promotion hopefuls Birmingham – who lost 2-0 to Blackpool at the weekend – and the Royals' inconsistent away form has kept their lead intact.

But Reading, who have lost only once at home all season, is hardly the ideal place to try to reverse that trend.

"Reading is a huge game. The Birmingham result has given us a little bit of breathing space but we want to go to Reading and get something out of the game," McCarthy said.

"Of course a draw would be a good result to keep them five points adrift but I'm certainly not setting off with that intention or mindset.

"We're going there to try and win but if we did come away with a draw we'd still have to be happy."

McCarthy made several changes for the weekend loss to Middlesbrough in the FA Cup fourth round, and he revealed he was keeping his players fresh for tonigh's crunch .

"If our goal is to go down to Reading and get something out of the game, then to have all my team play 90 minutes, and face the most dynamic and arguably the best team in the league days later – that would be folly," he added.