Mick thanks Wolves fans

Manager Mick McCarthy swallowed his disappointment to salute both players and the Molineux fans after last night's Derby setback. A 1-0 home defeat was not the return the club was hoping for after three wins in a row from McCarthy's new-look team brought an encouraging response from the faithful.

A gate of 21,546 was more than 4,000 up on the previous home night match and a positive sign to Wolves that the fans are warming to the new era.

And McCarthy was at pains to thank them for backing his team to the finishing line even though an equaliser remained out of reach.

The Wolves boss who made a point of walking on to the pitch to shake each and every one of his players' hands after the final whistle and said: "The players were so disappointed in the dressing room afterwards, but my message to them was to be proud of themselves.

"They gave it everything, kept going and I could not be more proud of them - I could not be more proud of our supporters either.

"It's not easy when you are the home fans and you have not had it your own way.

"But they stuck with us and stayed behind to clap us off at the end. That should let the players know the fans were as proud of them as I was.

"Sure, I was disappointed. But beyond that, there was a lot to be positive about.

"I think the last 30 minutes inspired the crowd to cheer us on and the majority were still there doing that right at the end."

And although the chance to lead the Championship slipped his team's grasp, McCarthy added: "If you jumbled all the points up we would have accepted this total at this stage of the campaign.

"This group of players have surpassed anything anyone expected of them and while we can be sad and annoyed at the result tonight we have got to look beyond that."

l A Wolves delegation heads for Old Trafford tonight to watch old boy Lee Naylor complete the journey from Academy to Champions League.

Academy boss Chris Evans and Chief Executive Jez Moxey will be joined by another product of the Molineux production line Joleon Lescott to watch the Naylor tackle Manchester United for Celtic.

Lescott, another home-grown Wolves player who is now earning rave reviews at Everton in his first season of Premiership football.

Evans said: "Joleon called a couple of hours before kick off to see if he could come to the game and will join us at Old Trafford tonight.

"I want to be there to see Lee play at the highest levels having watched him progress through our ranks.

"I think there is a tremendous spirit between all the lads that come through the system and they are all interested in how each other progresses."

By Martin Swain

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