Wolves players rally to support captain Karl Henry

Wolves players today rallied around captain Karl Henry to insist the skipper shouldn't change his ways despite his sending off at Wigan.

Henry faces a three-match ban after seeing red for his 11th-minute lunge on Jordi Gomez in the 2-0 defeat.

The Molineux skipper, who apologised to his team-mates afterwards, was too distraught to speak publicly following his dismissal, which heavily shaped Wolves' fourth successive defeat, equalling their worst losing run since April 2004.

Boss Mick McCarthy will speak to Henry today about the tackle, but early indications are that he could escape a fine.

And Henry's team-mates spoke up for the midfielder.

"I hope it doesn't change how he plays because we want him to make challenges," said midfielder David Jones.

"This is the first incident he's been penalised for."

And Jones defended his team-mate, insisting: "As anyone who's seen him knows, he's a totally fair, honest player.

"You could see it coming it probably looked worse because if you miss the ball, you get the player.

"He'll never shy out of a tackle, but that's because he always faces up to physical battles. He's had a bad and unfair press."

Dave Edwards believes Henry's timing was affected by his reputation in the national media. "It was a bad tackle and I think Karl knows that," he said. "It's not in his nature not to go for it, though because he's a good tackler and a good, honest footballer.

"But he's had a lot of bad press which is uncalled for.

"So maybe there was a slight hesitation where he thought he shouldn't go for it because of the attention he's had."

By TIM NASH