Mick McCarthy refused to condemn Nottingham Forest’s cynical attempts to clip Wolves wings and joked that kicking Michael Kightly and Matt Jarvis was the only way to stop them.
The two widemen came in for some rough treatment from the Forest defenders and full-back Luke Chambers in particular was lucky to avoid a sending off after persistently upending Kightly.
McCarthy, however, a raw and ruthless centre half during his playing pomp, admitted defenders faced with the duo would sometimes have to resort to foul means to try and contain them.
“I had this thought last season when I’d signed ‘Jarvo’ and we’d got ‘Kights’ that’s how I wanted to play,” added Mick. “Then ‘Jarvo’ got injured and later ‘Kights’ got injured and we were bereft of them for a while.
“We never really got them on the pitch for the same time until the last knock-ins.
“We finished the season particularly well and finished with momentum despite not getting in the play-offs.
“I thought ‘Jarvo’ was unbelievable. Their full back went and kicked Kightly and ‘Jarvo’ was laughing because they couldn’t get near enough to him to kick him.
“I think if I was playing I’d have kicked them both if they kept running past me!”
McCarthy’s reward for leading Wolves to the top of the early-season table was a celebratory beer or two, although the Molineux manager admits his team have nothing to toast just yet.
“I’ve enjoyed these two wins at home and I’m sure the fans have as well and there’ll be a feelgood factor around the place for the next two weeks,” he added.
“And I’ve told the players it will be nice for them to pick up the newspapers and see us top of the league."
