Wolves At The Door

Mick McCarthy was in bullish mood following his sides one nil victory over Leeds United, but typically, isnt going to get too carried away by the teams current run of success.

'Forget about these people saying we are dark horses for promotion or we are a team coming up on the rails - we are definite contenders for promotion and I said that before Christmas."

'We are out of the play-offs on goal difference and only four points off top of the league, but you will not catch me daydreaming about automatic promotion.' he said.

He also paid tribute to the phenomenal support given to the team, assembled on a shoestring, by Wolves' long suffering fans, and stressed the importance of not living up to their expectations.

'The players that have come in have generated a new optimism. There was an apathy early on at the start of the season.

'I think the fans have got trust in the squad now and are proud of what they are achieving. We have got to make sure we keep up the good work and don't let them down.'

Twelve points from 12 hasn't been achieved by Wolves since 2002, but it wll count for little if they don't maintain thatkind of consistency until the end of the season, and McCarthy, and McCarthy is aware of the effect that kind of pressure can create, something he has frequently stressed to his players, and re-itterated again today

If they did not realise before, I think the players are starting to understand how intense this season is going to get.'

And there are few managers in the divison better placed than McCarthy to guide his youngsters through it.

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