Wolves will carry on playing offside

Wolves manager Mick McCarthy has handed his players full licence to continue playing offside.

McCarthy's men have conceded three goals recently from trying to play the offside rule - two of Liverpool's three on Saturday and one in the 2-0 reverse at West Ham on New Year's Day.

Against the Reds, Ronald Zubar was guilty for not pushing up for the first one and Christophe Berra for the other – both scored by Fernando Torres – the latter coming when Wolves were chasing the game.

Liverpool's first goal came as a result of a correct call by female referee's assistant Sian Massey, whose appointment sparked the sexist comments by Andy Gray which have led to his sacking from Sky.

But McCarthy is only interested in decisions for and against his team and stressed the merits of playing a successful offside trap in the belief it's an effective tool when used right.

He said: "Offside is a weapon that's in your armoury as a defender. If used properly and at the right time it can be effective.

"If it's used incorrectly and not properly it can leave you in trouble. I'm never happy if someone uses offside as an excuse for not defending.

"We all know how it's done when it's done correctly, but you have to give players license to make decisions on the pitch.

"On Saturday we made a mistake."