Wolves boss Mick McCarthy has kicked off the countdown to the derby at Birmingham by admitting Alex McLeish is the only pressure-free boss in the league.

McCarthy takes his team to a buoyant St Andrew’s on Sunday, where boss McLeish has steered Blues to a record-breaking 15-match unbeaten run before last week’s defeat to Chelsea. That amazing run has seen them virtually secure Premier League safety with 15 games left.

Birmingham’s tally puts them eighth and 13 points clear of the relegation zone going into the weekend and the Wolves boss feels they are home and dry already.

He said: “The only bloke who must be pressure-free and that’s Alex McLeish – he’s done an absolute fabulous job to get them to 34 points already.

“They’re one team that doesn’t have to worry.”

Birmingham aside, McCarthy feels any three of the bottom 10 teams can go down. The Wolves boss also turned the heat on his old club Sunderland, who have gone 10 league games without a win, amassing just four out of 30 points.

He said: “I’m looking at the teams above us and I saw Sunderland and Stoke playing each other on Monday night and they’re all still in the mix – there aren’t any of them thinking they’re safe.

“Stoke have got two more points than Sunderland with 26 but they won’t be resting on their laurels.”

Basement side Portsmouth unveiled their fourth new owners of the season yesterday, and McCarthy is happy to take any advantage.

He said: “I think there are 17 of us want three clubs to go into administration so they lose 10 points! Portsmouth are certainly in trouble, but they’ve very good players, as they proved here, but if it helps us, then brilliant.

“If they stay where they are, then we still have to finish above two other teams.”

All the managers ‘in the mix’ are feeling the tension, according to McCarthy.

He said: “We all look at what other teams’ games are.

“Phil Brown at Hull said they had three home games coming up – but one of them was against us and the other two were against Chelsea then Manchester City, so it’s not as if they were playing us, Burnley and Bolton which might have been better for them.”