McCarthy keen to mix things up

Wolves manager Mick McCarthy is ready to adopt a 'win ugly' policy in a bid to again steer his side away from relegation.

Wolves are currently one place off the foot of the Premier League table and on a run of 22 games in all competitions without a clean sheet.

McCarthy is now determined to see his players rediscover the hard-to-beat attitude that saw them avoid the drop last season.

"Winning ugly is about not taking chances in the wrong areas," said McCarthy, who is being heavily linked with a January move for Spurs striker Robbie Keane who started his career at Molineux.

"You don't have to play all the football and end up getting beaten.

"We need to be hooking the ball on when it needs to be hooked on, heading it, winning all the duels and tackles.

"We need to get back to that kind of approach. We need to play football when we can, but be tougher and harder to beat."

Speaking to the Express & Star, McCarthy added: "We never set off wanting to concede goals, but I think it maybe just needs to be instilled and ingrained a little bit more.

"That's my explanation for winning ugly. It's not playing lovely football that's costing us.

"The message is to play football when we can, but also have that mentality that we don't want to concede."