Mick: Wolves are still in a fight

Wolves boss Mick McCarthy insists his team remain in a relegation scrap after vowing they need a minimum of two wins to be safe.

McCarthy's side went into the weekend five points clear of the drop zone with five games left.

But with West Ham, Wigan and Hull all facing home games before Wolves host Stoke tomorrow, McCarthy knows his team can be dragged back into trouble and says they need six points to survive.

"We need two wins at least," said the boss.

"We need to keep the intensity going and not to take the foot off.

"I don't know if two wins does it but if we get to 38 points we'll have had our point per game.

"But who knows? It might be more.

"It gets silly at this time of the season because people get results from nowhere.

"Hull have had a win and have a game in hand and Burnley went there today.

"A bad result for us and a couple of good results for others can suddenly turn it all around.

"Whenever I see relegation run-ins they only mention Wigan and Bolton, they don't give us a mention.

"That concerns me because it almost lends itself to a nice, cosy atmosphere around the place with everyone patting each other on the back and fans saying it's great.

"But I won't allow the players to lose focus.

"We haven't done anything yet. We need more points.

"I like that adrenalin rush and buzz and the butterflies going around keeping everyone on their toes to make sure we get results."

While McCarthy is focusing on other team's results as well, the Molineux chief maintains their future remains very much in their own hands.

And starting tomorrow, he knows uncompromising Stoke are just the team to take advantage of any sloppiness on Wolves' part.

"We can't take our focus away from picking up points starting on against Stoke," he said.

"If we slacken off, we'll get punished and certainly by Tony Pulis's team at Stoke who have proved to be a really good Premier League outfit."

Fans have been chanting 'Staying up' in recent games but McCarthy wants to banish any thought of Wolves believing they have already clinched safety.

And he has set his side the task of finishing top of their 'mini-league' at the bottom.

"I'm aware of people saying 'we're staying up' and we will be if we get a couple more wins, there's no doubt," he said.

"It won't leave anyone in any doubt if we end up with 38 points.

"I'd like more - I'd like to finish where we are now, top of that pile where we're all scrapping against relegation with Portsmouth, Hull, West Ham, Bolton, Wigan.

"But the only way we'll do that is keeping on like we have been."

McCarthy added: "If people have to ask me whether we're going to rest on our laurels, I take offence

"I'm still doing the same things – people should know that I will never allow that to happen, so no one should ask me for my confirmation.

"That's my job, that's how I am – it's not for me to allow people to rest on their laurels and if I did then I wouldn't be doing my job."