Wolves vs Fulham preview - McCarthy wants three more wins
Posted Saturday, April 23, 2011 by PA
Wolves manager Mick McCarthy has set his team a target of three wins in their last six matches to ensure Barclays Premier League survival.
The Black Country outfit are bottom of the table with 32 points, but have a game in hand on most of their rivals.
McCarthy believes a total of 41 points would be enough to preserve their league status.
"If somebody gave me that now, I'd take it away and we would be absolutely safe, no question," he said.
"Three wins out of six games, I'd take that all day long. If it takes more than that, we might all have problems."
McCarthy added that whoever ends up in the bottom three at the end of the season can consider themselves unlucky, such are the fine margins involved this year.
"I don't think there are bad teams at the bottom of the league," he said.
"I know it means that the three teams that go down are the three worst teams in the league, but I don't necessarily think it means they are bad teams.
"We've all had good results against good teams and I think the league is definitely tougher this year.
"Somebody's got to be sad and unlucky though, and lets hope it's not me."
Wolves face Fulham on Saturday, with Mark Hughes' men looking for a win to push them over the 40-point mark.
With half of the league yet to reach that tally, McCarthy believes that the tight nature of the division will help his team in their fight for survival.
He said: "There's never been a time when the bottom team can be so confident that we can get out of it, which we are.
"Everybody still believes they've got the chance to get out, and we've got to maintain that belief."
Wolves lost 3-0 at home to Everton in their last game, which was just under two weeks ago.
Despite this result, McCarthy feels his players have not been feeling sorry for themselves.
"The sun's shining and it's been great," he said. "We've been training well and there's been a good spirit around the place.
"The atmosphere is terrific, but Saturday afternoon counts, it doesn't matter what you do days or weeks prior to the game."
Fulham boss Hughes has insisted Bobby Zamora will have no fears about facing Wolves despite suffering a broken leg the last time the sides met.
Zamora was sidelined for more than six months back in September after fracturing his ankle following a challenge from Karl Henry.
Wanderers captain Henry has a reputation for being a physical player but he appeared to win the ball cleanly, with Zamora the victim more of misfortune than anything.
The 30-year-old still bears the physical scars from that day but manager Hughes was confident ahead of the game that he would not be affected mentally by taking on the same opponents.
"I think any sense of trepidation was going to be prevalent when he first went on the pitch," said Hughes, who has eased Zamora back into action over the last two months and revealed he would not be 100% fit until next season.
"He's got over that hurdle and now it's just about making sure he's progressing in every game he plays to make sure he's firing on all cylinders.
"Trepidation doesn't come into it. There's no apprehension in his play, he's going into tackles, he's getting around the pitch, so I think he's over that."
Neither does Zamora bear any grudge over what happened back in September.
"Certainly, there was no issue with the challenge," said Hughes.
"It was unfortunate for Bobby but I don't think Bobby's got anything to prove or (is contemplating) any retribution.
"That's not going to come into his head. He's just enjoying being back and playing football again."
Fulham initially struggled in the absence of their talisman, who inspired last season's run to the Europa League final.
They even flirted with relegation but are on the brink of sealing their survival ahead of the trip to the Premier League's bottom side.
Hughes was adamant that, had Zamora been fit all season, 12th-placed Fulham would be well inside the top 10 by now.
He said: "We've been involved in games and had too many draws, unfortunately. Something like 14 draws, I think it is.
"I know for a fact that if Bobby had been available for a number of those games, he would've turned those draws into wins."
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