Wolves boss Mick McCarthy has revealed how he broke the ice with Rafa Benitez after defeat at Liverpool.

Benitez had been critical of McCarthy over his shadow selection for Wolves' loss at Manchester United last month.

"I'll tell you what happened at Anfield," McCarthy told the Daily Mail. "We got beat and had Stephen Ward sent off and in the press conference I was asked if I disrespected Liverpool by putting my first-team out, as if that makes any sense.

"So I went from there to Rafa's room because I'll go to see anybody after the game, if they'll have me. I walked in and said, "First of all, Rafa, the referee was perfect today, everything he did was perfect," because he had made that little speech after Liverpool lost at Portsmouth.

"So he started laughing and then I said, 'And about that other business, I don't know if you've come across it, but we have a little phrase we use in English football and it goes like this: f*** 'em.' And I opened a bottle of beer and we got on fine. Say anything? Of course he didn't say anything. He just laughed. What is he going to say anyway? He has been around. He knows the situation.

"I disrespected the Premier League? No, I didn't. I paid it the biggest compliment I could because I made a decision driven completely by one thing: the desire to stay in it. That is the only issue for me, just as it is the only issue for about another 10 managers. And every one of them knows why I did what I did."