McCarthy and Breen in bust-up

Wolves manager Mick McCarthy and captain Gary Breen were involved in a furious dressing room bust- up, it emerged today.

An angry McCarthy and his long-serving lieutenant had to be separated as tempers flared following Wolves' desperately disappointing draw with ten man Southampton on Tuesday night.

The Wolves boss is understood to have laid the blame for Jason Euell's injury-time equaliser at the door of his skipper – prompting an angry exchange after the final whistle.

McCarthy stressed in a statement today that no punches were thrown, but the Express & Star understands the exchange became so heated that the dressing room door was locked as the pair aired their grievances.

The Wolves boss and his skipper held clear the air talks yesterday, with McCarthy insisting both parties have already put the incident behind them.

"Having conceded a goal in the 94th minute emotions were running high and heated words were exchanged," McCarthy admitted today.

"But this was a dressing room argument and there were too many other people around for the situation to go beyond a bit of shouting. No punches were exchanged.

"Me and Breeny have worked together for a long time and have got a lot of respect for each other.

"We are both passionate and competitive people who desperately want to win games, so these things happen.

"The two of us have met since for a clear the air talk and that's the end of it – we move on to the next game."

Rumours about the bust- up began circulated around Molineux shortly after the final whistle – prompting the club to release today's statement.

Wolves were keen to stress today that the row was the result of competitive passions and not a symbol of a split between the manager and his players.

Breen and McCarthy's fierce loyalty and respect for each other has been built in a decade of working alongside each other at Sunderland and for the Republic of Ireland before they were re-united at Wolves.