Selection headache for Wolves boss

"One or two gave me food for thought on Tuesday," he said. "It is great when people come into the side and do well. The really nice thing is they have all supported each other. If they are not in the team, they have pushed one another to be in the team. That is the best thing I can have, competition for places and good competition. It is proven because, when people have come in, they have done well."

McCarthy has called for his side to return to their defensive belligerence of last season, when they kept 19 clean sheets but were one of the Championship's lowest scorers. So far this season, his side have shown an encouraging potency, scoring five goals in three games, but have conceded four in the process. Finding the perfect balance is now McCarthy's aim.

"We have looked good going forwards," he said. "We needed to improve on putting the ball into the net after last season. I thought we played well last season but we didn't always take the chances we created.

"We have created five chances and managed to score five but a clean sheet is always the requirement. If you don't concede, you never lose but then you can look at the other side of it and say we had 19 clean sheets last season and the third-best defensive record in the division, but the third or fourth-worst goals-for record.

"West Bromwich Albion scored a lot, conceded a lot but won the Championship. Scoring goals is paramount to winning but we did take a lot of pride in our clean sheets last year."