We were hopeless - McCarthy

The Championship leaders never recovered from Paul Gallagher's 39-second goal, as they crashed to their third defeat in four games in one of their most nervous performances of the season.

Bizarrely, despite a run of one win in 11, Wolves remain three points clear after Birmingham lost 2-1 to Sheffield United and Reading were beaten 1-0 at home to Nottingham Forest.

But McCarthy isn't pulling any punches as his team continue to falter.

He said: "Let's just cut to the chase - we were hopeless, dreadful. Starting 1-0 down doesn't help, especially against a team fighting for their lives and we just didn't have the devilment to break them down.

"We gave them a goal from a setpiece that we'd talked about just before we went out - we told them what could happen from throw-ins.

"Maybe it's all getting to us. Maybe the age of the side is a problem, maybe it's getting nervy. Perhaps we're all suffering.

"Some of our players – good players – looked edgy and nervy and were making mistakes they wouldn't normally make.

"Maybe it's a case of trying too hard to win in terms of trying 70-yard pass or turning and shooting when it's not on. The quality was really poor."