Rooney is a doubt for Manchester United with a knee injury he aggravated playing for England against Egypt on Wednesday. McCarthy, whose side are desperate for points in their battle for survival, said: "I would prefer him not to play and to be left at home in Manchester. "In my opinion he is brilliant. The goal that he scored recently against Arsenal epitomised him. He is world class. "He is the complete player. I just love his attitude. He plays like he is playing in the school playground. He has matured and has got better and better and he is red hot at the moment." Wolves could do with pulling off a shock victory against United as they are only out of the relegation zone on goal difference. McCarthy, who has seen his side win just one of their last nine league games to leave then only out of the relegation zone on goal difference, has promised to adopt a bold approach and will certainly not be setting out to try and frustrate United. He added: "We will be going for it to try and win the game. "Do United have one banana skin in a season? It may well be here. "The fans don't come to see us lose whoever we play against. Only recently we drew with Liverpool, beat Tottenham and played very well against Chelsea when we should have got something from the game. "We are capable of getting a result and we are looking forward to it. "It is a daunting task with the position that we are in but we wanted to be in with the big boys and it is a big, exciting game for us. "It is a big ask playing against Manchester United at any time but I feel we are in good shape and have been playing well. "Anything we get out of this game we will have to work hard for. "But we have to believe we can get something. We won't be negative. "If we can keep playing as we have been then we will have more than enough chances of staying in this league." The last time Wolves played United at Old Trafford in December, McCarthy raised eyebrows by making 10 changes to his side - a decision that saw Wolves censured by the Premier League and handed a suspended £25,000 fine. He is not keen to look back but admitted: "Whatever team I pick will come under scrutiny." Wolves follow the clash with United with, arguably, a more important game against relegation rivals Burnley next Saturday and McCarthy would love to head to Turf Moor with some more points on the board. "Next week will be a fairly big affair," admitted McCarthy. "While we are playing United tomorrow Burnley are up against Arsenal so if someone could get some points then it could make a big difference. "But let's get this game out of the way first." From a personal point of view, McCarthy is looking forward to pitting his wits against United boss Sir Alex Ferguson and he added: "Everyone respects Sir Alex for the trophies he has won but for me it goes a bit deeper than that. "He also looks after young managers and I remember that when I was starting out at Millwall I got the best wishes from Sir Alex. "He has got a lot of time for managers who are starting out and to still have the desire he has is something else." McCarthy will name an unchanged side for the fourth successive game.
