McCarthy puts faith in old guard

Mick McCarthy" class="imageframe alignright" height="130" src="http://www.shropshirestar.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/mccarthy_points.jpg" width="175"/>Mick McCarthy will put his faith in experience as he looks to build the momentum to carry Wolves into the play-offs.The Molineux chief has turned to tried and trusted players like Michael Gray and Jody Craddock in recent weeks to halt the slide that has threatened Wolves' promotion dream - and saw it pay off with a win at Palace.

He looks set to keep the faith as Wolves face another 'must-win' clash at relegation-threatened Colchester.

McCarthy said that Saturday's team selection was not a fall-out from the Cardiff debacle, rather a deliberate plan to lean on experienced players in the team's time of need.

"I don't do knee jerk reactions and I'm not into changing the team for the sake of it," he said.

"One of my strengths is my loyalty to people and belief in people. That can be detrimental sometimes if it goes too far so I don't do it just for the sake of it.

"But we needed a bit of experience on Saturday. I knew that the likes of Michael Gray, Jody Craddock and Gary Breen wouldn't be fazed by going to Crystal Palace.

"There was a bit of me thought about Daniel Jones, but not in that situation where we needed to beat Palace and everything was conspiring against us. To be fair, I didn't send Micky on the pitch to bend a 25-yarder, but that makes it even better still."

McCarthy faces big selection dilemmas at Layer Road, where he is likely to return to the 4-4-2 formation.

Matt Jarvis is close to a return from a hip injury - prompting another possible tactical rethink.

"It's great when you've got players coming back who play well," he said.

McCarthy also hailed the impact of the returning Darren Potter - and revealed the midfielder turned down the chance to leave during the January transfer window.

Potter has struggled to hold down a place in the team this season.

McCarthy even offered him an escape route by offering to put him on the transfer list in January - but Potter turned him down in order to fight for his place at Wolves.

And the Molineux chief is delighted with that attitude, and the form shown in recent weeks.

"The one player that has stood out for me in recent weeks has been Darren Potter," McCarthy said.

"Before the transfer deadline when he wasn't playing and he was out I asked him if he wanted to go on the list.

"He came back in the following day and said he didn't want to go anywhere, he wanted to fight for his place."