Wolves boss Mick McCarthy insists his “young and hungry” policy was right to follow as he prepares to look across at Birmingham’s experienced Premier League stars.

McCarthy believes his side have the right blend of guile and grit as well as youth as his Championship leaders attempt to go eight points clear of second-placed Blues at St Andrew’s.

The Wolves chief was responding to claims from Blues chairman David Gold, who said: “I don’t know whether Wolves are a great footballing side. I may have missed that.”

McCarthy replied: “I don’t measure good football. I judge my team on effectiveness. It does not matter about being the best footballing side.

“We have invested in youth while Birmingham have players with age and experience, but I guess the fact we’re both being successful at the moment suggests there’s more than one way to skin a cat!

“I suppose that was my decision when I came in – to invest in youth in the team. While we have a young side, these players have quite a number of games under their belts.”

McCarthy and his players were fired up the last time the teams met in the league by comments from Cameron Jerome, after the Blues striker claimed Birmingham were the ‘big scalp’ of the Championship despite Wolves topping the table, after the 1-1 draw at Molineux.

Jerome said: “We’re the big fish in this league and teams want to show us what they can do. Birmingham is a big scalp. It’s like when you play Manchester United and Chelsea, we are like that in this division because we’ve come down from the Premier League.

“If you look over the 90 minutes, we were the better side and we created the better chances. Wolves have been flying but we played them off their own park.”

But Jerome’s strike partner Kevin Phillips wants nothing to do with football’s ‘style wars’ as he eyes one more blast at the old enemy tonight.

The veteran super striker, who became a thorn in Wolves’ side during his two-year stint at Albion, is the talismanic striker Blues hope can decide the St Andrew’s derby.

He is making it clear that he has absolutely no interest in the debate, that has accompanied his team’s dogged progress despite continual grumbling about a lack of entertainment in their football.

Phillips said: “We read the comments but we have a lot of experience and we’ve seen and heard it all before. We don’t let it get to us.

“It doesn’t matter how we get there – to the Premier League – all that matters is we get there. You can be in a team that plays excellent football but misses out.

“The be-all and end-all is promotion. Let Wolves play the pretty football if that’s what they do, good luck to them. We will carry on what we’re doing.”

Phillips has been this way before, winning promotion at a canter with Peter Reid’s Sunderland 10 years ago and then repeating the feat with Albion last year.

The contrast between the two teams is marked with a Wolves side flush with youthful energy facing a home team battle-hardened – and experienced enough not to be distracted by the running complaints about their football.

Phillips added: “I’ve been promoted by miles and with an excellent team last year. This season, I can’t honestly say we’ve strung two or three performances together on the bounce when we’ve said ‘we played well today.’

“We’ve won games but then struggled. That just shows you how tough the Championship is and it’s not just us who have found it very demanding. We’ve got experience, but that doesn’t count for everything – you’ve still got to go out there and perform.0

“I know it’s a cliché, but we’ve got to look at these last six games as cup finals, all of them. What’s at stake is massive for everyone, we realise that.

“We know the effect of what we do has on the future of a lot of people at the club.”

Blues have a wealth of striking talent at their disposal, with Phillips and Jerome vying for the two starting spots with Marcus Bent, Carlos Costly and James McFadden.

McCarthy managed Phillips briefly at Sunderland and identified the former England international as the chief dangerman.

He said: “Kevin Phillips has been Blues’ talisman when he has been fit and he scored all the goals for West Brom last year when they got promoted so we know what he can do.”

The last time the sides met, in January in the FA Cup third-round clash which Wolves won 2-0, Phillips came on a late substitute and almost reminded McCarthy of his undoubted capabilities in front of goal.

McCarthy said: “He only came on in the last game between us with a couple of minutes to go and hit the crossbar!

“He has to be the number one dangerman. He’s a natural goalscorer and he just has the know-how and the knowledge to score goals.

“I think Cameron Jerome is a real handful and Seb Larsson too. They’re a good side which is why they’re second in the league.

“They might be a bit stronger than they were in the FA Cup but I think we might be a bit stronger too.”

McCarthy revealed he has plenty of respect for the opposition, adding: “Alex has got a good squad of players, has just taken Stephen Carr too and the fact they’re second underlines how good the players are he’s got.”