Goals either side of the interval from Nenad Milijas and Kevin Doyle handed Wolves a 2-0 win over Burnley.
McCarthy's men clamber out of the bottom three
Goals either side of the interval from Nenad Milijas and Kevin Doyle handed Wolves a 2-0 win over Burnley on Sunday, as Mick McCarthy reverted back to a winning formula.
The victory is enough to lift Wolves out of the Premier League relegation zone, while the Clarets' troubles on the road continue.
Those in attendance at Molineux saw little during an uninspiring first half to raise the temperature, but the hosts did at least have something to shout about after 15 minutes.
Doyle, who was lively throughout, caught Clarke Carlisle napping and provided Matthew Jarvis with an opportunity to get a strike in on goal.
Brian Jensen could only parry his low drive and Milijas was on hand to steer the ball into an empty net.
Burnley rarely threatened as an attacking force during the opening 45 minutes, with clear-cut chances at a premium for both sides.
Wolves then wrapped things up five minutes into the second half when Doyle outmuscled Steven Caldwell, cut inside Michael Duff and bundled the ball home.
The Clarets did come close to finding a route back into the game just past the hour-mark, but Kevin Foley was on hand to hack off the line when Steven Caldwell met a Chris Eagles corner with a powerful header.
Probing
Wolves were first to settle in the freezing conditions and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake was inches away from connecting with a probing ball across the six-yard box by Milijas.
Doyle then came close to breaking the deadlock when his 20-yard shot took a deflection and curled only a couple of feet wide.
And the perseverance of Doyle led to Wolves taking the lead after 15 minutes through Milijas.
Doyle's never-say-die attitude enabled him to dispossess Burnley defender Carlisle and tee up a chance for Jarvis, whose shot was parried by Clarets keeper Brian Jensen.
But Milijas was first to react to the rebound and side-footed his shot into the corner of the net.
Burnley tried to retaliate and Eagles set up an excellent chance for Kevin McDonald but he dragged his shot wide of the far post.
Doyle had an even better opportunity to double Wolves' lead after he had beaten the offside trap to run onto a chip over the Burnley defence from Milijas.
But the Republic Of Ireland striker was foiled by Jensen who blocked his shot with his outstretched right leg.
Milijas failed to make the most of a promising set-piece opportunity after Eagles had fouled Richard Stearman and sent his shot straight into the defensive wall.
He then scuffed his shot after Jarvis had spotted him in space just outside the Burnley box from a corner.
The Clarets were forced into a defensive switch after 34 minutes when Carlisle limped out of the action to be replaced by Duff.
Karl Henry became the first player to be yellow carded a minute later for a challenge on Graham Alexander.
Threat
Jarvis fired a 20-yarder straight at Jensen as Wolves continued to look the more threatening ahead of half-time.
Burnley started the second half on the offensive and had claims for a penalty rejected after a challenge by Stearman on Steven Fletcher.
Duff should have done better when he got on the end of a near-post ball from Alexander but he failed to make full contact on his shot.
It proved to be a costly miss as Doyle doubled Wolves lead with his fifth goal of the campaign after 50 minutes.
Jody Craddock floated the ball forward and Doyle showed great control in shrugging off the challenge of Caldwell and cutting inside Duff before firing past Jensen.
Burnley boss Owen Coyle responded by introducing on-loan Portsmouth striker David Nugent in place of Andre Bikey.
Ebanks-Blake was growing in confidence and Jensen had to go down to his right to hold onto a drive from the striker.
But Foley came to Wolves' rescue when he cleared a Caldwell header off the line from an inswinging Eagles corner.
Jensen then produced a superb save to turn aside a close-range header from Ebanks-Blake from Stephen Ward's pinpoint cross.
Jensen came off his line to deny Ebanks-Blake and then clung onto a header from Doyle as Wolves looked to kill the game off.
But Burnley were still posing a threat and Fletcher scooped the ball over the bar from a low Wade Elliott centre.
| Wolverhampton Wanderers |
Team Statistics |
Burnley |
| 2 |
Goals |
0 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 9 |
Shots on Target |
5 |
| 1 |
Shots off Target |
6 |
| 3 |
Blocked Shots |
1 |
| 5 |
Corners |
5 |
| 18 |
Fouls |
8 |
| 1 |
Offsides |
1 |
| 2 |
Yellow Cards |
1 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 68.5 |
Passing Success |
73.8 |
| 27 |
Tackles |
17 |
| 81.5 |
Tackles Success |
70.6 |
| 47.5 |
Possession |
52.5 |
| 54.7 |
Territorial Advantage |
45.3 |
|
