Mick McCarthy believes there are still plenty of teams involved in the battle for survival as Wolves and Burnley go head-to-head tomorrow.

 

The likes of Wigan, Bolton and Sunderland have all registered crucial victories over the last couple of games to climb away from the lower reaches of the table.

 

But victory for either Wolves or Burnley tomorrow could still drag others back into the equation with around a quarter of the season still to go.

 

"I still think seven teams are in the scrap to stay up," he said.

 

"There is an opportunity for us.

 

"I don't think for one minute think that Wigan, Sunderland, Bolton and West Ham think that they are out of the relegation fight yet because it has proved that two wins on the bounce, like Bolton, can seemingly push you miles away from it.

"But if the ones underneath get a couple of wins they can catch up again, especially if you've got tougher games coming up.

 

"It is all to play for.

"I'm sure Steve Bruce hopes Sunderland's victory will galvanise his players and they can go on now and to be fair with the start and the strkers they have, he didn't think they'd be in this position anyway.

 

"But another couple of defeats and you just don't know, and so I'm sure Brucey won't be getting carried away.

"Every point is a prisoner in the Premiership."

 

Burnley started the season like a train on their own patch, albeit they have found it tougher going in recent weeks.

 

Mick was at Turf Moor to see Brian Laws' side draw with Stoke on Wednesday night, which proved very much the proverbial game of two halves.

 

The Wolves boss was also impressed by the support from the Clarets' faithful.

"Lawsie summed it up better than I could because I heard him on the radio on the way home," said Mick.

 

"He said that he saw Mick McCarthy behind him and I bet he was laughing in the first half!

 

"I wasn't laughing but they didn't play well.

 

"Then in the second half he thought I would think differently because they came out and played very well in the 20 minutes I watched.

 

"They scored one and created another couple of good chances and improved a lot.

"They do have great support.

 

"They gave the players the bird when things were going astray.

 

"There were moans and groans and heckling and a few boos, but as they were going off the crowd were fabulous and that helped turn it around.

 

"The way they reacted to their players going off at half time gave them a real boost.

 

"If I heard that in my earholes as a player I'd want to play for that lot."

The boss admits there's little point underplaying the significance of tomorrow's encounter.

 

By the same token however, he won't be counting any chickens should Wolves win or thinking the game's up if they lose.

 

"It is a huge game for both of us," he acknowledged.

 

"But the players don't need any motivating, because they are playing well and we all know what is at stake.

 

"The prize of staying in the Premiership is what motivates you.

 

"That's providing it does motivate you and not give you fear, or give you tension or stress.

 

"I know people will use the six-pointer cliché and of course it will make a difference if we get beat.

 

"But can we still get out? Yes.

"I have learned that in the past when we were written off after playing Birmingham and probably rightfully so the way we played.

 

"We were down there and yet two or three weeks later we were 12th through winning three games out of four.

"I have had a look at other teams fixtures. They're all similar, but mainly the focus and concentration is on Burnley. I can't do anything about the others."

 

* Wolves are 2-1 to win at Burnley tomorrow. Click here for all the odds from our sponsors Sportingbet.com

CLICK HERE FOR SIMPLE GUIDE TO ONLINE RENEWALS: DEADLINE 5PM TONIGHT!!!