McCarthy was given a £25,000 suspended fine by the Football Association after making 10 changes to his team for this fixture last year, with the intention of keeping his players fresh for a match against Burnley five days later. "We were certainly singled out," McCarthy said. "Others have done it, and I did it and everybody found it suddenly really distasteful. "If we'd have won, nothing would have come of it. And actually, we put up a good show." More than 10 months after the incident, McCarthy believes the FA set a dangerous precedent by imposing the sanction. "I wonder if I'd get away with nine changes," he joked. "I don't know, I'll have to ring somebody at the Premier League offices and ask what I can do." After Wolves beat Manchester City on Saturday and performed well in their 3-2 defeat against Sir Alex Ferguson's men in the Carling Cup last Tuesday, McCarthy thinks they have a fighting chance against their hosts. He said: "I think the performance we had at Old Trafford gave us plenty of confidence and belief, as did the one we had as Stamford Bridge (where they lost 2-0). "They have probably led to the result we got against Manchester City. "If all those things help then we should be in better shape going to Old Trafford. Until their win against Roberto Mancini's team, Wolves had been playing well without reward, something McCarthy had not been too worried about. "I've been saying that if we were playing rubbish and getting beaten every week then we'd got no chance - we might as well pack up and go home," he said. "But we weren't, we were playing well but not getting the bit of luck that you need to win. "We probably had that last week." Despite injuries to Nani and Darren Fletcher, as well as Wayne Rooney's absence, McCarthy does not think his team will get an easy ride on Saturday . "We're going to Old Trafford, for God's sake," he said. "Manchester United at Old Trafford - it has quite an ominous ring, doesn't it? "I'm not bothered what team they put out, they've always got fabulous players and the best manager. "It's a good recipe for success."
