Greg Halford backs Wolves boss Mick McCarthy to cement club’s Premier League status

Mick McCarthy – Wolverhampton (PA)

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Wolves defender Greg Halford has backed his manager Mick McCarthy, insisting that he is the man to push the team up the Premier League table next year.

The former Republic of Ireland manager was criticised by some after Wolves only escaped relegation to the Championship on the final day of the season.

Halford, who spent last season on loan at Portsmouth, told skysports.com: “Every manager is going to come under criticism when it goes down to the last game of the season to stay up, but at the end of the day we stayed up and that is all that matters really.

“I’m sure that the manager and everyone else at the football club are expecting us to kick on next season and progress up the table.”

The right-sided player, proficient in both defence and midfield, said Wolves were on the brink of establishing themselves in the Premier League.

“Everybody says that the second season in the top flight is the hardest and most teams tend to fall at that hurdle, but we’ve survived it and it is now time to build on that,” he said.

“It always has been the case of trying to get as far away from the bottom three as possible so that we can start to stabilise the club as a consistent top-flight side.”

Having been at Fratton Park last season, Halford spoke of his thoughts having watched his parent club’s performances from afar.

“I feel that they were unlucky to be dragged into the relegation fight last season because they battered a lot of teams before giving away sloppy goals, like the Everton match at home, where Jermaine Beckford popped up and scored twice completely against the run of play,“ he said.

“That seemed to be a familiar story throughout the season, with the lads unable to shut up shop at the back and grab a goal when they are dominating games.

“I think that the gaffer will address that this summer, with a few additions up front, and hopefully we will be a lot more clinical when the chances come our way.”

Halford’s own future is unknown, with Portsmouth thought to be keen to extend his stay on the south coast.