Preparation problems worry Wolves

Worried Mick McCarthy has admitted the weather was threatening to leave Wolves under-prepared for the Boxing Day clash against Wigan - but the Wolves boss doesn't believe the answer is a winter break.

McCarthy was forced to abandon hopes of a full scale behind-closed-doors practice game at Molineux yesterday, as officials tried to protect the pitch with snow still falling.

Instead they got a game on a smaller area cleared at Compton, which doesn't yet have undersoil heating. The pipes were laid in the summer, but the gas supply to fuel it from the main building needs to be upgraded.

Training has so far been restricted to a weights session on Monday before yesterday's training game.

It leaves McCarthy concerned at his players' preparation after a break of two weeks without a game.

He said: "I would love it to be on if everything's right, but I don't want us to be under-prepared.

"We don't want any more disruptions. I want us to play properly, because when you don't silly results get thrown up.

"We can't train at Compton and the players have to be mentally and physically prepared to play because if you're not, doubts will appear in their minds.

"We went out on Monday morning and there was four inches of snow but as soon as you clear it, it starts to freeze."

Despite enduring a disrupted schedule, McCarthy doesn't subscribe to the continental idea of a winter break.

Instead, the manager remains a firm traditionalist, as far as the hectic festive programme goes.

He said: "I have never wanted a winter break. Fans love going to a game on Boxing Day. I've done it all my life - I've trained Christmas Day, you just get on with it.

"We played Leeds when I was at Sunderland and there was a full house. It was amazing, and that was in the Championship.

"And Wolves against Wigan is attractive because of the circumstances - it's a Premier League game with huge things riding on it."

The enforced break has at least given Wolves' injured players a chance to get fit.

But that brings its own problems, as McCarthy explained.

He said: "When they're slipping and sliding, there's the risk of them getting another injury."