McCarthy has been strongly linked with a bid for Beattie, who has fallen out of favour with Stoke manager Tony Pulis. But the former Republic of Ireland boss claimed: "There have been no discussions at all about James Beattie. There have been no discussions with Beattie and none between Wolves and Stoke about him. "Of course, when we read about the fall-out we all said 'I wonder what has happened there' but there have been no discussions and I didn't make an inquiry. "I was amused the other day when I saw the story spreading. I was agog at it all. Maybe someone should have checked with me but the story just kept running." Meanwhile, McCarthy is ready to thrust new signing Geoffrey Mujangi Bia straight into the first-team picture. Mujangi has become Wolves' first signing during the January transfer window, initially on loan from Charleroi with a view to a £2million permanent deal in the summer. The 20-year-old winger will go straight into the squad for Saturday's FA Cup fourth round meeting with Crystal Palace at Molineux. But McCarthy also plans to involve the Belgium international instantly in the club's battle for Premier League survival. He said: "Geoffrey will go straight into my plans. He will be involved on Saturday if we get clearance but he will also be involved immediately in the Premier League. "He is quick, can play on the left or right but also down the middle and in training today I was very pleased with what I saw. "With Michael Kightly having been injured, there has been a lot of onus on Matt Jarvis but Geoffrey can also do that job for us out on the wing. "We have struggled for goals and he also gives us that real attacking option from either side." McCarthy confirmed that Kightly and Dave Edwards have not recovered sufficiently from ankle problems to be risked against Neil Warnock's side, although he insists there has been no major setback to their rehabilitation programme.
