McCarthy praises his brave Wolves
Mick McCarthy today saluted his side's courage and character as Wolves closed in on the top six with a hard-fought victory over dogged Scunthorpe. Mick McCarthy today saluted his side's courage and character as Wolves closed in on the top six with a hard-fought victory over dogged Scunthorpe. McCarthy had warned of a nervy night at Molineux against the Championship strugglers and it proved to be just that as Wolves were forced to fight back from Andy Butler's fifth-minute header. The Molineux chief said he cared little about the manner of the performance as he saw his side move to within a point of the top six - but reckoned there was plenty to admire in the way they turned the tide. Check out our match photo gallery here and read the full story in today's Shropshire Star
Mick McCarthy" class="imageframe imgalignright" height="130" src="http://www.shropshirestar.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/19mick.jpg" title="Mick McCarthy" width="175"/>Mick McCarthy today saluted his side's courage and character as Wolves closed in on the top six with a hard-fought victory over dogged Scunthorpe.
McCarthy had warned of a nervy night at Molineux against the Championship strugglers and it proved to be just that as Wolves were forced to fight back from Andy Butler's fifth-minute header.
The Molineux chief said he cared little about the manner of the performance as he saw his side move to within a point of the top six - but reckoned there was plenty to admire in the way they turned the tide.
"I'm just pleased with the way we reacted to the early goal and won the game," he said
"We won't get any plaudits for the way we played but I get great pleasure from looking at the league table and seeing we've got three more points.
"And I have to say I thought the players tried to be courageous in the way they got the ball down and passed it. We didn't resort to lumping it - we tried to pick holes in them.
"I never thought it was going to be easy. If you read my programme notes you'd have understood that I knew what kind of game it was going to be."
Sitting in seventh place - and just five points off fourth-placed Albion - Wolves are back in the thick of the promotion hunt just seven days after defeat at Preston.
"Considering some of the games we've played, and the results we've had, we are in a healthier position than we could have been," McCarthy admitted. "One or two might be looking over their shoulder at us."
The Wolves boss also saluted the impact of Matt Jarvis and Freddy Eastwood, the substitutes who helped turned the game in their favour.
Jarvis' outstanding delivery set up two goals, while Eastwood roused the home crowd with some exquisite touches and a hard-working display.
"I thought it was the right decision to change things when I did. I let the game settle and then changed things to put Jarvo on, who had an immediate effect," he said.
"And Freddy did what I've been asking him to do all season long. I thought he put a real good shift in.
"He's quite clearly a fans' favourite and if he does that he'll be a favourite with me as well."