McCarthy turns pressure up on West Ham

Wolves manager Mick McCarthy has turned the pressure up on West Ham ahead of tomorrow night's crucial Barclays Premier League clash at Upton Park.

West Ham trail Wolves by a point after losing their last four games and are the surprise team in this season's relegation battle.

McCarthy believes all the pressure will be on Gianfranco Zola's side and feels victory would have a real impact on Wolves' survival hopes.

McCarthy said: "It is their home game and they will be expected to beat us.

"In this fixture the pressure is on them.

"You can all do the maths. If we win this it will put a real dent in West Ham and it would certainly put some real daylight between us and Burnley and Hull.

"What would it do to us psychologically? What would it do to the rest of them psychologically?

"If we don't lose it would be a hell of a result for us. It is a huge

game but more so for West Ham.But it won't be easy, that's for sure."

McCarthy expects West Ham to have targeted this game as key in their bid to stay up but that does not alarm the former Sunderland boss.

He added: "That would wind me up if I was going there as a player.

"I would take it is a personal slight on me that they think they could

target us as a victory.

"Anyone who thinks that we are a soft touch has maybe had to change their opinion.

"When we were beaten by West Ham on the opening day of the season there was a lot of hollering and hooting going on that we were destined for the drop and they were destined for bigger and better things.

"It is amazing how, with eight games to play, we are all in the mix for the drop.

"So there is a damn sight more pressure on them now than there was 30 games ago."

Wolves head to London in positive mood after moving four points clear of

the relegation zone with a win at Burnley and a draw at Aston Villa in their last two games.

McCarthy continued: "We are playing well away from home.

"If I had been offered four points from those two games I would have taken them and having got them we are going to West Ham feeling confident and feeling good about ourselves.

"But the pressure is still on us because we are not safe with the points

that we have got.

"We don't want to suddenly breathe a sigh of relief because we have got

four points from two away games and think that is it we can relax now.

"We want to kick on and pick up more points.

"I have looked at the fixtures that we have all got, four or five games ago.

"But as to how many points we need, we need more than three others.

"The only way we can make things go our way is with our results because

with eight games to go it can turn around so quickly.

"But the players have earned the right to have a spring in their step.

"It is through their performances.

"But the Premier League has that disturbing habit of taking the spring out of your step very quickly if you don't manage it properly."