The 25-year-old was outstanding last term. Jarvis' form was so good he was handed his first England cap as a substitute in the friendly against Ghana at Wembley in March, in addition to scooping Wolves' supporters and players player-of-the-year prizes. Yet the former Gillingham wide man has found it a struggle to maintain that form. Indeed, he was left out of McCarthy's starting line-up for a couple of games before being reintroduced at Chelsea last month. Since then, Jarvis has been excellent and his performance was praised by McCarthy on Saturday, even though he was unable to prevent Wolves suffering a 4-1 defeat to Manchester United. "It was a fantastic performance from Matt," said McCarthy. "He showed everyone he is back to his best." Jarvis' cross created Wolves' goal for Steven Fletcher at the start of the second period and Sir Alex Ferguson was moved to say the Black Country outfit were the best crossing side in the Premier League. McCarthy would not disagree. And the Wolves chief can only wonder at the damage he would do if he played for one of the top flight's biggest teams. "I just wonder why it should be expected that a player like Matt Jarvis, who has done wonderfully well coming to us from Gillingham for £600,000 and then getting picked by England would do it week in and week out," said McCarthy. "He plays for a team that can't get the ball to him as often as we would like. "I wonder what damage he would do if he was playing for Manchester United or Manchester City? "He continues to be one of our top players but he can't do it all the time. I accept that." With home games against Stoke and Norwich looming prior to Christmas, McCarthy opted to take Fletcher off as a precaution as the Scotland star felt his calf tighten in the second half. Having lost Dave Edwards to a groin injury before the break, McCarthy did not feel it was worth the risk. "We need Fletch fit and we weren't going to get four goals to win the game so I think it was wise to take him off," said McCarthy. "He has been terrific when he has been fit and prolific and I need him prolific in the next two games as well."
