Mick McCarthy will keep on attacking after Chelsea defeat

Nov 23 2009 by Bill Howell, Birmingham Mail

WOLVES manager Mick McCarthy defended his attacking principles after handing Andrew Surman a first league start at Chelsea.

“The only time I have approached a game differently was at Manchester City when I played one up front and we got battered for 45 minutes,” he said.

“Then we went to two up front, had a real go and nearly got something out of it.

“I didn’t approach it any differently at Chelsea.

“I know I had three centre-backs on the pitch but we had two strikers and we nearly benefited from that.”

McCarthy admitted the second half became “damage limitation”.

Even so, it was not all doom and gloom for McCarthy, who said: “There were aspects of our performance that I was pleased with and there were some good performances.

“We had the best chance after three or four minutes. They had eight and are entitled to that because they are a good side. We had five good chances and came in 3-0 down.

“I think that highlights the difference between the two teams. There are a lot of others (differences) but they are certainly a quality side. I was thinking: ‘keep it down to three’ because we weren’t going to win 4-3, although it could have been 3-1.”

“But they are a brilliant team and arguably the champions-elect.”