Birmingham City v Wolves: Business as usual for Mick McCarthy

Jan 3 2009 by Ken Montgomery, Birmingham Mail

He said: “Sometimes, the cup offers a chance to play others but it is not the time to make massive changes.

“The problem is that you get to this time of the year and you get someone who goes down with an injury or illness or even fatigue after 30 games, so you might have to bring in someone who hasn’t played for a long time or certainly hasn’t played in a tough, physical game like this.

“Whoever plays will be first-team players or at least first-team squad players. I am sure all the players will be wanting to play, too.

McCarthy knows his “oppo” Alex McLeish from their days in Scotland.

He said: “I played against him when he was at Aberdeen and I was at Celtic. I know him reasonably well.

“I suppose we were both quite similar back then – glamorous ball-playing centre-halves!”