Contract talks can wait as Wolves focus on staying up

(PA)

The manager of Wolves, Mick McCarthy has put contract talks on hold to concentrate on securing Premier League survival. McCarthy's side are 19th in the table but just a point behind Blackpool in 17th and the former Republic of Ireland coach is determined to secure another season in the top flight before addressing the contracts of David Jones, Marcus Hahnemann and Jody Craddock, all of which expire shortly.

"We don't know our own future yet," McCarthy said. "We haven't discussed contracts and we are not going to. There's six games to go. Our focus and everybody's should be on getting the points that keeps us in this league.

"When we stay in the League everybody is in a better place, to do better. So let's make sure that happens then we can crack on."

Kevin Doyle could also return from a knee injury sooner than first thought. He was originally expected to miss the rest of the season, but McCarthy is now hopeful of having him back for some of the run-in.

"I'm not bouncing around with optimism that it would be four weeks because I have had medial ligament trouble myself and I know what they're like," he said. "The guy he saw for his injection didn't put as much of the stuff in as he did for Karl Henry. It wasn't as bad and it won't be that long. He was quite positive but we will see."

The West Bromwich Albion manager, Roy Hodgson, remains hopeful midfielder Graham Dorrans will return from his ankle injury before the end of the season.

The Scotland international has been out for six weeks after picking up the problem in training but is back running. Hodgson said: "Graham's making a lot of progress but we are deliberately taking it step by step. We don't want to see any regression. Every time the doctor speaks to me about him, he speaks very positively. We were never seriously targeting a return for the Chelsea game [on Saturday] but he's still on track. In Dorrans we have a very talented player who could be an ace up the sleeve if we need him towards the end of the season."