Hodgson gives McCarthy backing

Baggies fans taunted McCarthy by chanting 'you're getting sacked in the morning' after goals from skipper Chris Brunt and substitute Peter Odemwingie sealed victory for their side. Wolves are in freefall after collecting seven points from their opening three games and their run of defeats is their worst at top flight level for 27 years.

But Hodgson does not expect Wolves owner Steve Morgan to press the panic button.

He said: "I can't imagine for the life of me that Wolves would want to sack Mick McCarthy.

"He's done a fantastic job -- and he's doing a fantastic job.

pressure

"His team are very well organised and lost only because we were able to deal with the pressure they put us under, then played well when we had the ball. I don't think his team played badly at all.

"If we lost 2-0 and played as well as his team played here, I would be expecting, if anything, although I wouldn't get it, a pat on the back rather than people telling me 'you deserve to be sacked'.

"Fans like that song now. One day someone will tell me how that excites and embellishes their lives, knowing that someone else is going to get sacked in the morning. That's the one thing I've not quite come to terms with."

McCarthy insists he is not feeling any more pressure than normal and refuses to blame his players for the slide. He said: "It is not the players putting me under pressure directly. It's my performances as well.

"It's my team. You hand it over to the players, it's their responsibility, but it's no more pressure than I've been under normally."