Win the best medicine for McCarthy

Ill Wolves manager Mick McCarthy was handed just the tonic in his side’s 5-0 win over Doncaster Rovers in their FA Cup replay on Tuesday.

Speaking to EPSNsoccernet after goals from Steven Fletcher, Geoffrey Mujangi Bia, Kevin Doyle, Matt Jarvis and David Jones sent Championship outfit Rovers spiralling out of the competition, McCarthy revealed he had been battling illness since Wolves’ 1-0 home win over Chelsea on January 5.

His decision to clamber out of his sickbed shortly before Doncaster’s visit to Molineux was a sweet one, as Wolves chalked up their biggest victory since their 6-0 drubbing of Gillingham in 2003.

Mujangi Bia’s 61st-minute strike put the English Premier League side 2-0 up, kick-starting a 29-minute, four-goal bonanza for McCarthy’s side.

“I can remember the last time I was beaten more than 5-0, which was Southampton here (0-6 in March 2007),” McCarthy said.

“I can’t remember too many 5-0 scorelines, but this turned out to be a comfortable night in the end with what was a good professional performance.”

“Once we managed to get the second goal it completely opened up the game, and after that there were more chances.”

McCarthy revealed he had been in bed until 4.45pm, perhaps having been stricken by ‘a bit of man flu’.

“I’m just soft me, I know, but I was here doing my job,” he said.

It was a miserable return to his home town for Wolverhampton-born Doncaster manager Sean O’Driscoll, who could only speculate on what might have been had striker Billy Sharp not been thwarted by Wolves goalkeeper Marcus Hahneman in a one-on-one chance in the third minute.

“Billy is usually clinical with those, then a minute later we were 1-0 down,” he said.

“After that we just gave bad goals away. Those aside parts of the performance were okay as we kept our shape and discipline. But you cannot give away goals like we did in the Championship, never mind against a Premier League team.”