Wolves manager Mick McCarthy upset with Woodgate decision

Mick McCarthy hit out at referee Anthony Taylor for failing to send off Jonathan Woodgate after Wolves crashed 2-1 to Stoke.

Woodgate, who had been booked, escaped a second yellow card after bringing down Matt Jarvis to concede a penalty.

Although Stephen Hunt gave Wolves the lead from the spot, Peter Crouch headed Stoke's winner after a Kevin Doyle own goal made it 1-1.

"Woodgate should have been sent off," said Wolves manager McCarthy.

"If it had been outside the box he would have been given a red card. "I don't think Stoke should have had 11 men on the pitch.

"I've asked the referee why Woodgate wasn't booked again, but he said it is between me and him."

Stoke manager Tony Pulis took the decision to substitute former Real Madrid defender Woodgate soon after conceding the 17th minute penalty to save him from being sent off later in the game.

"I decided that was the right thing to do," said Pulis after his side's fourth straight league win.

"You have to be brave enough to make decisions. I made it because he was having problems with Matt Jarvis. But he's accepted it.

"His first challenge was a poor challenge [for the booking] and that puts you on edge straight away.

"We had a bit of good fortune there. If he had sent him off, we probably couldn't have argued about it.

"But when I took him off he said 'that's a great decision gaffer' and that's from someone who has played for Real Madrid and is very much part of what we want to do at this club."

McCarthy was also unhappy with Taylor's decision to penalise Wolves captain Roger Johnson which led to Robert Huth's free-kick deflecting off Doyle for Stoke's equaliser.

"I also think Johnson got the ball when a free-kick was awarded against him and then a deflected goal changes the course of the game," added McCarthy.

Wolves remain in trouble near the bottom of the table yet McCarthy is refusing to press the panic button after a fourth defeat in five league games.

"I'm pleased with our performance," he said. "I thought we played well. I thought we were excellent.

"I'm not coming here to criticise my lads. I thought they were great. They defended all the free-kicks and corners and were a real threat.

"I don't think the game is going anywhere until that free-kick."

Meanwhile, Stoke have now chalked up four successive Premier League wins for the first time as a result of Crouch's winner - the 99th league goal of his career.

"We have created history again," said Pulis. "It is the first time this club have won four on the trot in the Premier League.

"We need another 16 points to get to 40 and we will be absolutely delighted again, doing somersaults."