McCarthy happy to pick his second XI

Mick McMarthy has defended the make up of the Wolverhampton Wanderers side he has chosen for tonight's home Carling Cup match with Notts County.

McCarthy has made nine changes from the starting XI beaten 3-1 by Tottenham in the Premier League on Saturday, with only defender Richard Stearman and midfielder Kevin Foley keeping their places. Last season Wolves were given a suspended fine of £25,000 for making 10 changes for a league game against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

"It's not an under-strength team," McCarthy said yesterday. "It's a team containing Premier League players who have cost a few quid. We need to get back to winning ways and I'd love a cup run."

Defender Steven Mouyokolo will make his debut after an injury-hit start to his Wolves career. He made a £2.5m switch from Hull in the summer but suffered ankle then hamstring injuries. Mouyokolo will play alongside Christophe Berra, who is available after serving a ban. Marcus Bent will have a chance to impress up front in place of the rested Kevin Doyle.

Alex McLeish has challenged Birmingham's fringe players to perform in tonight's home match with MK Dons. New signings Nikola Zigic, Matt Derbyshire, Jean Beausejour and Martin Jiranek are all set to start while Keith Fahey, Michel and Alexander Hleb will also be included.

Elsewhere Everton travel to Brentford looking to get their season up and running, Burnley host Bolton, Millwall play Roy Keane's high-flying Ipswich, Swansea go to Peterborough and Portsmouth host Leicester City.