MICK McCarthy has dismissed notions his players might not care about Wolves’ plight and says he’ll fight tooth and nail to defend them.

Five straight league defeats have knocked his side but McCarthy says it’s not through a lack of passion.

“People may say ‘they don’t try for the manager’ or ‘he’s lost the dressing room’. It’s the old saying that you don’t win arguments when you don’t get results. I understand that,” he said.

“We haven’t played the best football we’ve ever played – we’ve played okay but we keep getting beat.”

Regarding a supposed lack of effort, the boss stressed: “I’d fight to the ‘nth’ degree for the lads on that call. That (argument) ends up suiting the environment and the feel around the place that all of a sudden they don’t care, they earn too much money and are this and that.

“That is complete nonsense but until we win a game and get them all smiling again, that’s what’s going to be said. So I’m not going to even try to justify it.”

McCarthy says the Wolves fans are no worse than elsewhere.

“It’s isolated to the area in which the football team is struggling,’’ he said.

‘‘And that’s what we are, struggling for a result. Professionally, we’re all hurting and the only way to change it is to win.

‘‘We’ve got Swansea coming here and it will be a very difficult game.”

The visit of Swansea has taken on critical importance.

“It’s certainly a game we mustn’t lose,’’ said McCarthy.