Mick McCarthy is clear he wants no pats on the back, just the three points. Wolves earned praise for their performance at Sunderland last weekend but came away with a 5-2 hammering.

"When you take the trimmings down and the cards have come down," began McCarthy, "and the mistletoe and the turkey is cold, and the pudding is scraps, and we have all sobered up on a Sunday we all think 'Premiership game - did we have a good time?'

"We actually got beat 5-2. We got nothing out of it. That is the cold reality of it. Zip, zero, zilch.

"Immediately after the game I was pleased with how we played, but we lost. So for all the plaudits we get for spirit and energy and because we played the better football on the day, we still got beat.

"I would sooner people would say 'blimey, you were hopeless today' and win 1-0," he told the Birmingham Mail.