Wolves manager Mick McCarthy has claimed that expecting big spending Manchester City to challenge for the Premier League title this season is not realistic.

McCarthy’s team tackle City on Saturday and he is relishing the chance to lock horns with the Premier League’s new big spenders.

But, in terms of mounting a title challenge, McCarthy feels that will still come down to the traditional big four of Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal.

McCarthy said: “I don’t think that expecting them to win the league when they have just bought a team is realistic.

“They might make a push for it. But I just don’t think it is realistic to expect them to win the league when others have got a settled team.”

McCarthy, a former Manchester City defender, added: “We are in the entertainment business when all is said and done and it is entertaining if nothing else.

“But Mark Hughes’ job is no harder than mine. He has a place where he is expected to finish and I have a place where I am expected to finish.

“Mine is 17th and up and theirs is sixth and up. I have got the players to finish 17th and up, he has got the players to finish sixth and up so why does it make his job any harder than mine?”