Wolves skipper Karl Henry searching for some local pride against Birmingham City

Feb 7 2010 by Andy Walker, Sunday Mercury

“There is no doubt about it, they have got more money and they pay better wages.

“When we played them, I don’t think there was much in it. Lee Bowyer has been playing well. They have conceded less goals than us.

“If we win games here then we keep the same side. It is easy to keep a settled team but unfortunately it is not so easy to do when you are not winning games. We have had a few injuries as well.

“It is going to be a tough, tough game. They have more experience than we have definitely and, no doubt about it, that helps.”

Following the 3-1 loss at Crystal Palace, in which Henry scored his only goal of the season so far, McCarthy has come under-fire from supporters critical of his tactics.

However, Henry has jumped to the defence of his boss and insisted that fans should lay-off McCarthy and blame the players’ ‘schoolboy defending’.

“It happens, we have bad performances and bad days. It is not down to the manager. The schoolboy defending was down to us and we have to take responsibility and we will do.

“We are all in it together and the gaffer has not deserved the stick he has got.

“At Crystal Palace it was schoolboy defending and that is something that you can’t afford.

‘‘If we defended like that in the Premier League you could double that score. You spend a couple of days looking back at the game and reflecting, looking at your own performance. It was a poor performance there is no getting away from that.

“Now we can concentrate on the league and we have a huge game.

“We have tried to take the positives from the last two league games, Liverpool especially. We played well and kept them at bay.”

Wolves find themselves in a relegation tussle that looks set to go right to the wire, with sides up to tenth place looking over their shoulders.

Despite his experience, this is the influential Henry’s first season in the top flight.

And having waited almost a decade to reach the peak of English football, he isn’t ready to drop back down just yet.

“It is the first time I have been in the Premier League in my career. I’m 27 now and I want to stay here as long as I can.

“The manager certainly makes us aware that it is the shirt we are playing for and what is at stake, why we are coming in – we are not here to pick up wages, we are here to put a shift in. We’re in a battle.

“We are all playing for our shirts. There is such a big competition for places we are only one or two bad games away from being out of the team. Everyone wants to play.”

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