Mick McCarthy admitted Wolves were “ordinary” and probably didn’t deserve to knock Southend out of the Carling Cup last night.

Richard Stearman spared Wolves’ blushes with the winner at the end of extra-time to clinch a 2-1 victory that looked unlikely for long periods.

And McCarthy admits Wolves had “got away with it”.

“We probably didn’t deserve it,” said the boss. “And they didn’t deserve to lose in that cruel way. They deserved at least to go to penalties, but I’m glad it didn’t.

“We got away with this one but the players will all be better for it. It was all about getting through and we’ll pick the bones out of it in the next few days.

“It was an ordinary performance by us but Southend were excellent and made us work very hard for it.

“It proves players not playing regularly at a competitive level need games and one or two were flagging a bit at the end.

“We had to put Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and Kevin Doyle on and Kevin Foley brought something good into midfield.”

McCarthy maintains he got his selection right by changing his whole team from the side that drew 1-1 at Everton on Saturday.

“I had no regrets – I made the decision to play eight Premier League players last night,” he said.

“Wayne Hennessey, Ronald Zubar, Richard Stearman, George Elokobi, Greg Halford, Nenad Milijas, Adlene Guedioura and Dave Edwards started and we should have done better.

But if they don’t play games like that then they’ll never get that match sharpness.

“Zubar was still going strong after two hours and, although he hadn’t played for so long, he showed his class with some power and pace to help win the game.”

Southend boss Paul Sturrock said: “I’ve had two-and-a-half weeks with 17 new players trying to put a team together.

“Half of them don’t know each other’s names. So it was a fantastic performance and one that showed we’re not a bad team.

“We didn’t look like a League Two side and that should give us all a lift.” Sturrock also hailed debutant centre-back Bilel Mohsni and backed him to become a star of the future.

“He was playing on park pitches in Paris a few weeks ago,” he said of the French Tunisian. “We signed him for a pair of boots and accommodation, but when we smooth some of the rough edges off him, bigger clubs will be knocking on our door.”

Sturrock has snapped up 17 new players in weeks to offset 14 departures from last season, with former Chelsea youngster Anthony Grant the only player in last night’s squad to have been at Roots Hall last term when the club sank into administration.

“It’s the hardest task I’ve taken on as a manager, but I’m excited by it,” he said.