WOLVES MANAGER Mick McCarthy has vowed to be bold when his side face Manchester United in the English League Cup tonight.

McCarthy, who will hand starts to strikers Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and Stefan Maierhofer and winger Michael Kightly, believes going to Old Trafford to try and frustrate United would be a mistake. He is not prepared for his team to sit back and defend for 90 minutes and try to catch United on the break.

McCarthy said: “We will play 4-4-2 against them and have a game with them. I don’t know what team Sir Alex Ferguson will play but we will play whoever he turns out. But we are not going there to sit back and have them attack us for 90 minutes. That would be a recipe for disaster so we will be going up there and trying to make sure that we are on the front foot for the game.

“I have never beaten Manchester United at Old Trafford in anything but we want to try to win the game.”

While McCarthy is making changes to the side that beat Fulham 2-1 in the Premier League at Molineux on Sunday, he sees the cup tie as a good chance to experience Old Trafford before the more important trip there in the league later in the season.

United are expecting a crowd of 60,000 and McCarthy is keen to ensure his players do not get fazed by one of the most famous stadiums in the world.

The former Sunderland and Republic of Ireland boss added: “It is a chance to go to Old Trafford, against one of the better bigger teams to go and play a game and see what it is all about and learn without having to go up there when there are points at stake.”

While McCarthy is keen to progress in the League Cup, he is also not hiding from the fact that he would swap a cup win at Old Trafford for three points when the teams meet in the Premier League.

He admitted: “There is the next round at stake but we all know that if you are talking about three points at Old Trafford or getting through to the next round what would we take? We would take three points. The Premier League is the holy grail and we all want to make sure that we stay in it.”

England under-21 international Kightly will be making his first start since March following hip and foot problems, while former United trainee Ebanks-Blake returns to the Wolves starting line-up for the first time since the opening game of the season against West Ham when he suffered a hamstring strain.

Ebanks-Blake will feature in a new-look attack alongside Austria international Maierhofer, who will be in the starting line-up for the first time since his arrival from Rapid Vienna in August. McCarthy added: “It gets players a game and that is vital for us.”

Michael Owen’s reward for his dramatic Manchester derby match-winner is set to be a place in United’s starting line-up. Tomasz Kuszczak is set to take over in goal from Ben Foster, while Wes Brown should take a central defensive berth alongside Jonny Evans.

Manchester UTD V Wolves

Venue:Old Trafford Kick-off: Tonight, 8pm On TV: Sky Spots 2