McCarthy has plenty of respect for new Albion boss Roy Hodgson and can understand why the Baggies have turned to the former Liverpool manager in their bid to avoid relegation from the Premier League. But he does not believe it is one of those scenarios where the Albion players had lost faith in Di Matteo and hopes that works in Wolves favour at the Hawthorns on Sunday. When asked if the West Brom players would be galvanised by Hodgson's arrival, McCarthy said: "That is an interesting theory. "The new manager comes in and the players might be galvanised if they wanted the previous manager to go. I'm not convinced that was the case at West Brom. "That is a good theory if they didn't like the outgoing boss and there was dissent towards him and people were not particularly doing their job for Roberto. "But I didn't see that at all. The players didn't look as if they had stopped playing for Roberto or stopped running about for him. "Whenever they scored, they were always at the dug-out and celebrating with him and his staff. "It seemed like they have got a really good spirit. So I don't know. They might be a bit brassed off that they have lost him. "It could work both ways and, of course, I'm hoping it works the way I've just said, that they don't galvanise around him (Hodgson). "I don't know. They are things I can't do anything about. All I can deal with is my team." McCarthy was manager of Wolves when they won 1-0 away to Liverpool in December - a result which played a part in Hodgson losing his job only a few days later. But he does not believes that gives him a psychological advantage for Sunday's bottom four clash. McCarthy said: "Roy is managing West Brom now. I dont think Roy carries scars around from when we beat them (Liverpool) up there. "It was a good night for us, we played very well that evening. "But it doesn't have any bearing on when Roy goes somewhere else. Not at all. This is a different game." McCarthy is aware of the need for players not to get carried away with what is bound to be a heated atmosphere. He said: "It is important to stay cool because there is always that intimidation and the element of the crowd being more vociferous. "I think referees are aware of the size of the game and they have to be. "I, for one, don't want them to get out of hand and have needless bookings. "Effectively it ruins the game if anyone gets sent off - especially if one of our players gets sent off! "I don't want anyone running around like a headless chicken and getting sent off. "Sensible and clever players can keep their emotions under control when everything else around you is going at 100 miles an hour." McCarthy knows it is important to pick up points in both derbies still to be played with Albion this season, although staying up is the number one priority. He said: "If we stayed up, and they went down, would any of our fans be bothered where we got the points from? "I know some might say they would and there might be some that say they'd rather win both games against Albion and go down - but that's beyond me that one. "It's important to get something out of the two games, of course it is. "The main importance is getting enough points and we've only got 12 left now so we need something from most of them."
