Stephen Hunt says McCarthy was right to delay his Wolves debut

Stephen Hunt today insisted manager Mick McCarthy was right to delay his Wolves debut for another week.

The £3m Irish winger didn't make the 18-man squad for Saturday's 1-1 draw against West Ham after earlier declaring he could figure, despite only making his comeback last Tuesday after nine months out with a serious foot injury.

Hunt came through his second reserve outing when he played 72 minutes in last night's 3-2 defeat against Villa and insisted he wasn't unhappy at missing out against the Hammers.

"To be honest. I was a million miles off last week and I think my adrenaline might have got me through the game, but the manager made the right decision in the end," said Hunt.

"I'd only had about a week-and-a-half's training so it probably wasn't enough. I've had a fair few niggles.

"I'm delighted he's willing to look after me to have me fit for the rest of the season. The foot hasn't been a problem at all. It's just been other niggles me I don't normally get."

And after his bold pledge last week, Hunt is more cautious of his chances of facing Chelsea on Saturday even though he can feel his game coming together again.

"I might be a little way off but we'll see," he said. "It's getting better."

"I'm beginning to take people on again even though I've been a bit rusty.

"My body is beginning to tell me what to do and I got two or three good crosses in," he added.