WOLVES MANAGER Mick McCarthy has admitted he is interested in signing Robbie Keane from Spurs but says his club’s position in the bottom three may hinder his efforts to attract players. McCarthy saw Wolves slide into 20th position after being beaten 2-1 at home by fellow strugglers Wigan on St Stephen’s Day.

He said: “No one has said what money we have got. I’ve always said if there are players available that we want and can attract and can get, then funds will be made available. It’s been made even harder by the fact we are in the bottom three.

“Had we beaten Wigan on Sunday and we find ourselves out of the bottom three, we might be more of an attraction to someone to come to the club.

“It is not just as easy as saying ‘We want that player, we will go and get him.’ Whoever it is, might not be available, might not want to come etc.”

Regarding Keane, McCarthy said: “He is a fabulous player but I go back to the same thing ‘Is he available, would he want to come to us, can we afford the deal, is it attractive?’

“Robbie has been a top player and whether a relegation scrap at Wolves is something he would fancy, I don’t know. There are a lot of factors that need to be looked at.”

McCarthy is rumoured to be also chasing the signatures of Middlesbrough’s David Wheater or Aston Villa’s Curtis Davies to address his problems in central defence. The Irishman took his reputation for straight-talking to a new level yesterday, when he laid bare his torment at his side’s lowly position.

McCarthy talked at length about the support he continues to receive from the Wolves board and his belief that “the players would never throw in the towel” when he was asked whether he was aware of the goodwill there is towards him.

It was an invitation for the Wolves manager to deliver a brutally honest, expletive-laden response that suggests life at the foot of the table is every bit as miserable as it looks.

“Look, I appreciate the sentiments,” McCarthy said. “Am I going to wallow in some sympathetic f***king syrup like this when I’m bottom of the f***ing league? If it ends in tears then some of you might say: ‘He was a nice fella and he did a good job’.

“But I’m not getting involved in this shit and caramel. We are bottom of the f***ing league, we got slapped on Sunday and we were shit. I know it. You lot know it. Thank God I’m not 11th or 12th, I’d be out of a job.

“We can get out of this, there’s no question that anyone will be throwing the towel in or packing it in, or thinking that this can’t be done.”