West Bromwich Albion boss Roy Hodgson has hailed the "magnificent" job that Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Mick McCarthy has performed at Molineux.
Wolves currently sit just one point outside the relegation zone in the Premier League table, but Hodgson has backed his managerial counterpart.
"Mick has done a magnificent job at Wolves – and so has the club owner [Steve Morgan]," Hodgson told Goal.com.
"Mick took them up and then stayed in the Premier League but then people want to see you move on even further and the expectations go up.
"Unfortunately when you bring teams up, the barrier gets raised, and if you don't bring the players in to match that, then it can be very difficult."
Wolves host the Baggies on Sunday afternoon.