McCarthy thrilled with Fletcher form

Wolves manager Mick McCarthy has praised the form Steven Fletcher and hopes the striker can keep his goalscoring run going.

Fletcher’s goal against Manchester United at Old Trafford last weekend was his third in two matches, taking his tally in the Premier League to six for the season.

McCarthy will be desperate to hold on to Fletcher as Wolves battle to stay in the Premier League, and the manager denied there had been any interest in the 24-year-old.

“No,” McCarthy told the Express & Star when asked if he expected Fletcher to attract interest in the January transfer window. “If I say yes, then I’ve suddenly put him up for sale, haven’t I?”

“So, categorically, no. All Fletcher can do is play and score, for his career here, and his Scotland career. He’s still only a young man, so all he can do is keep playing well and scoring.”

“He’s a Premier League player scoring goals so he’s going to get headlines. Players always do when they’re scoring goals.”

McCarthy added that he was pleased to see Fletcher add more goals to an all-round game he had already been impressed with.

“It’s a great feeling as a footballer to be playing well,” he said. “He’s a very good player – he’s excellent.”

“It’s his all-round game, but as with all strikers, it’s his goals that top his performances off.”

“And he wants to score, he loves scoring.”

Wolves host high-flying Stoke on Saturday, with Tony Pulis’ side moving to eighth on the table after a 2-1 win over Tottenham last week.

“They were excellent for 30 minutes,” McCarthy said. “They really did stop Spurs playing. They were fantastic, they really were.”

“Then Spurs changed their shape and passed it around but they just didn’t defend two throw-ins.”

“But Stoke are a good side and are hard to play against. They are really difficult to play against – they work their socks off.”