Wolves manager Mick McCarthy has ordered his players to chase points rather than prizes against Liverpool at Anfield.

Wolves have been beaten in their three games against the other ‘big four’ this season against Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United.

Chairman Steve Morgan and striker Sylvan Ebanks-Blake are two of the several boyhood Liverpool fans in the Molineux ranks.

But McCarthy insists there will be no star-gazing at Anfield tonight and no inferiority complex after three wins in four.

“Steve’s a Wolves fan – there will be no split loyalties there, none at all,” said McCarthy. “And the lads know what we’re about here and that there are points at stake.

“If somebody gets a shirt or a signed something in between times then fine, but they’re not in it for that. They’re in it for the long haul because we all want to stay here.

“Believing in yourself is one thing but it’s also about proving yourself as well. I wonder how many will step onto the pitch and see themselves as being equal to Steven Gerrard or Fernando Torres?

“I’ve never once gone so far as to think it was cut and dried before we start, and our players are just the same.”

But the Reds go into the game having lost nine of their last 17 games. And McCarthy believes Wolves can exploit an ‘edginess’ about Liverpool.

“They know they’re expected to win and. when you’re not playing great, you’re not full of confidence.

“And a team like us going to Anfield doesn’t do them any favours because there’s that edgy feel to them,” he said.

“We’ve had it here last season against teams we should beat. I hope we get something out of it because that would be terrific.

“But I never subscribe to the theory that good teams will keep struggling because at some stage, they have to get out it and I have no doubt they see Wolves coming as an opportunity.”

McCarthy says the fact Liverpool have not won the league since 1990 is irrelevant given the amount of silverware the Reds have amassed in that time.

“Rafa won five trophies in his first two seasons and they’ve hardly been bereft of silverware, they’ve just not won the Premier League,” he said.