Wolves boss Mick McCarthy has defended his decision to axe last season's leading scorer Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and believes he has shown the player more than a fair share of loyalty, reports the Daily Mirror. Ebanks-Blake scored 25 times last season in helping Wolves gain promotion from the Coca-Cola Championship. But the former Plymouth player has only netted one penalty in the Barclays Premier League this season and was not even amongst the substitutes for Tuesday's goalless draw at home with Liverpool.

"You can show a player loyalty, support and encouragement and I have played him for around 18 of the last 20 games," he said. "But eventually you have to think about making a change and we've got people here like Chris Iwelumo and Stefan Maierhofer chomping at the bit to play."

McCarthy confirmed that Ebanks-Blake will be travelling with the squad to Saturday's vital relegation battle with Hull, but believes he made the right decision in leaving him out against the Reds.

He added: "Sylvan is a striker who has got his kudos in the game from scoring goals.

"He has played well in some games this season but it does come to the point where it is not getting easier to score and he has to come out of the side."