Wolves primed for Arsenal fire - McCarthy

Mick McCarthy today insisted Arsenal's gruelling Champions League schedule will not have any impact on their chances against Wolves on Saturday - or their title hopes.

The Gunners' comeback to retrieve a 2-0 deficit to force a 2-2 draw in last night's European Cup quarter-final first leg against mightly Barcelona at the Emirates has given Arsene

Wenger's side fresh hope of reaching the last four.

Wenger's men travel to Spain for next week's second leg after trying to keep their Premier League title hopes on track against Wolves.

Four points adrift and with an inferior goal difference to Manchester United and Chelsea with six games left, the Wolves boss nevertheless sees Arsenal pushing the top two all the way in the run-in.

And he is convinced the Gunners have the squad to cope with their demanding programme.

"They're definitely still involved in the title race," said the Molineux chief.

"I don't know if us playing them in between two Champions League games makes any difference but they've got a squad to cope with it.

"And they've got the size of the pitch going for them as well."

McCarthy has vowed that Wolverhampton Wanderers will be a different proposition to the side that played well for the first half an hour but were ultimately well beaten 4-1 at Molineux in November 7.

"We played well against them for 30-odd minutes at our place and we're a better outfit than we were then," he said.

"We're not perfect but we're certainly better than we were. We've done alright in March but we're not the finished product by any stretch of the imagination."

Midfielder Dave Edwards, who is hoping to be back in the squad for the game after recovering from an ankle injury, believes Wolves can give Arsenal plenty to think about if they can soak up the pressure.

"They're a team that you can hit on the counter attack," he said.

"Hopefully, if we can defend well, we can hit them on the counter attack."