Mick McCarthy confident of quality

Sep 5 2008

MICK McCarthy is confident that the squad now at his disposal has the depth of quality required to deliver a genuine promotion challenge.

Wolves had raced to the top of the Championship even before transfer deadline day last Monday.

But that did not stop McCarthy making three more acquisitions. And he reckons that with Jason Shackell, Matt Hill and George Friend in the mix too, he has a squad capable of withstanding the slings and arrows that a long and arduous season inevitably brings.

“I believe that it is squad that wins things rather than individuals, despite how well the likes of Michael Kightly and Matt Jarvis have done,” McCarthy said. “It is not a case of us being on 14 players and I turn round and look at the bench and think I can’t improve things. We have options and the bench can make a difference and that’s a nice situation to have.

“For example, if I had have picked Jarvis ahead of Stephen Ward at Plymouth on the first day of the season, Ward couldn’t have complained and Jarvis couldn’t complain at being out.

“Likewise with David Jones, Dave Edwards and Karl Henry in centre midfield. There is not one player who could complain because I have got a good squad of 16-18 players who are all capable of playing in the first team. That makes a difference.

“We have already lost one of our best players already in George Elokobi but Wardy came in against Forest and was outstanding.”