Wolves can take pressure: Skipper

At 34, and with nine clubs and a World Cup on his CV, Gary Breen has seen it all and pretty much done it all and that experience will be a welcome addition for McCarthy now.

Wolves are into the final third of the campaign where they must repeat last season's swashbuckling finish if they are to realise their promotion dream in 2008.

It is a dream which has faded in the past months as Wolves have lost touch with the leading pack.

But Breen, having finally won a four-month battle against a knee injury, is ready to resume his role of McCarthy's lieutenant out on the field of combat at just the right moment.

For the former Republic of Ireland international knows this is where the players who can best handle the pressure come to the surface as the key figures. And it's a test a largely young Wolves team have yet to pass.

"When I left the team we seemed in good shape and the run continued for a bit which makes it a lot easier when you're not playing," says Breen.

"You don't feel you're being missed as such. But there were times when we were on that run of eight games without winning that it was frustrating.

"The crowd have been fantastic towards us but they were getting frustrated and rightly so because they're desperate for the team to do well.

"Sometimes that's when you need your more experienced players because when something isn't going well that's when it's tough.

"Last year when there was nothing really expected it was easier for everyone to play. Then came the expectation levels and it became difficult and that's when it also becomes harder looking in from the outside.

"You try and do what you can on the training field but you're not really in the hub of what's going on.

"Then we went and won three games and the momentum seemed to be there but Watford was a big knockback. Although as bad as our results were during that period we're still only 10 points off the top which is amazing.

"I don't think any clubs took advantage of our bad spell. I felt with the three wins it was a bit of reminiscent of Sunderland when from February we really started winning games and won the league comfortably in the end.

"I thought something like that was possible. This is the business end of the season. Don't get me wrong, the first half is still important when everyone is jockeying for position but this is when it really matters.

"I feel our squad is stronger now than it was at the beginning and there's still a chance for us. We need to get on a run otherwise we won't achieve our objectives. Although these lads are young and talented a lot of mental strength has got to be shown now.

"That's the key at this stage because the ability is there." It is that ability to play under pressure, to deliver the goods when expected, which appears to have caught out so many of Breen's young team-mates this season.

They would not be the first squad to suffer at the hands of the Molineux Factor which is why Breen's presence should not be under-estimated.

He adds: "It's like my old manager Gordon Strachan once said to me. You're on the golf course and you're teeing off and the pressure's on and you hit a couple of rubbish shots.

"You think that's it then, the round's gone, and you think 'sod it' and just start hitting the ball and start playing great. There's no pressure. They have been put under pressure this season and it's up to them to respond."