Captain Karl Henry has bluntly dismissed his team’s performance in their Carling Cup exit at Rotherham as “rubbish.”

He has pledged a very different display against Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

A Wolves team showing six changes from Saturday’s Championship duty went out on penalties, after a goalless stalemate over two hours of drab football at the Don Valley Stadium.

It was not what the players, or the 1,000 travelling fans, have come to expect from this Wolves team, even if Mick McCarthy’s side can still claim to be unbeaten in open play after losing the penalty shoot-out 4-3.

Henry pulled no punches in his analysis of the game.

He said: “We were rubbish and there’s no need hiding from that. It was strange because the last few games we have been playing well, scoring goals and the intensity has been high.

“It just wasn’t there and I can only say sorry to the fans who made the trip. It wasn’t for the lack of trying. We came in with a side strong enough to win this game but we didn’t work their goalkeeper at all.

“It was dire. I had chances to hit the target and didn’t, so did the rest of the lads. It was a rubbish performance and we didn’t deserve anything.

“To be honest, I felt like it was going to penalties from early on. We were flat at times. We tried to probe and probe but the ball was running away from us.

“But if I had to choose between losing this game and Saturday’s it would be this one. We all know what we want this season and we have to make sure this is a bit of a knock-back but nothing more. I think you will see a different performance on Saturday.”

McCarthy is confident that he will be able to call on three players who were ruled unfit last night – Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, Matt Jarvis and Sam Vokes – to face Forest.

But the irritations of a disappointing night for Wolves continued, with Andy Keogh coming off halfway through a much needed run-out.

McCarthy said: “Andy felt unwell and I think we saw that in his performance. I didn’t really want to play Iwelumo at all but we had no option.

“But Ebanks-Blake and Jarvis should both be fit. Vokes would have played here but got a little knock in training. I hope he, too, will be available for the weekend.”