Mick McCarthy admits Wolves’ defending from corners is “unacceptable” as they prepare to face set-piece kings Villa.

Follow all the match action with the Express & Star’s Match Centre

Nine of Villa’s 12 goals have come from restarts, including both in last week’s 2-1 win over Chelsea.

Wolves have conceded four times from set-pieces this season, to West Ham, Blackburn, Sunderland and Portsmouth.

McCarthy’s players regularly practice defending set-pieces, but the Molineux chief admits their record isn’t good enough.

“We defended badly for those (goals) – not as a whole, but we committed individual errors,” said the boss. “We’ve got to defend them properly. It’s not acceptable at all.”

McCarthy reckons anyone can derail Villa’s set-piece threat – by standing firm and winning headers.

The Wolves boss, a renowned former centre-back himself with Barnsley, Manchester City, Celtic, Lyon and the Republic of Ireland, has been intrigued about Villa’s extraordinary record of nine goals out of 12 scored this season via restarts.

McCarthy reckons foreign influences mean there is too much emphasis on stopping opponents trying to head the ball rather than people trying to win the ball themselves.

“I think a lot of people get wrapped up in stopping the guy trying to head the ball, rather than heading the ball themselves,” he said.

“And in trying to block him off, they only have to slip or lose him for a second and it’s in the net.

“If you give me a free header from eight yards then I’ll score – and I’m 50 with a dodgy knee and a dodgy back. There’s no magic formula – if you get good delivery and get a touch on it, it can end up in your net.”

McCarthy admits Villa’s set-piece threat is “potent”.

“Ashley Young was a £10m player a while ago and he’s improved so I’d expect him to put good deliveries in, and with John Carew, James Collins and Richard Dunne – who I know well – they’ve certainly got a very potent threat,” he said.

“Chelsea couldn’t stop Villa last week, so how can you stop them scoring?

“You just have to stop it. We all saw their game against Chelsea, but it was a free header for Collins’ goal. To avoid letting them have free headers would be a good start (to stopping them scoring).”