After his side's 5-0 rout of Doncaster in their third-round replay at Molineux, the Wolves boss later admitted to spending the day ill in bed and not getting up until 4.45pm. At least any symptoms he may have been feeling will have been eased by the manner of his side's victory that began in the fifth minute when Stephen Fletcher headed home his sixth goal of the season.
"Despite my miserable demeanour, I didn't get out of my bed until 4.45pm," revealed McCarthy. "I don't know what's wrong with me. I've been ill since the game against Chelsea (a 1-0 home win on January 5) on and off. Somebody tells me it's a 24-hour bug that has lasted two weeks. Maybe it's a bit of man flu. I'm just soft me, I know, but I was here doing my job."
Rovers, who had held Wolves to a 2-2 draw in the initial tie at the Keepmoat Stadium 10 days ago, were in the game for an hour until the home side then ran riot.
Geoffrey Mujangi Bia, a 21-year-old Belgian midfielder making only his third start for the club, thumped home Wolves' second in the 61st minute.
That was followed five minutes later by Kevin Doyle squeezing home what was also his sixth goal this campaign with an acutely-angled drive in off the right-hand post.
Substitute Matt Jarvis added the fourth five minutes after his 69th -minute arrival, with David Jones completing the one-sided triumph in the third minute of injury time to set up a last-32 home clash with Stoke on January 29.
The win was Wolves' biggest since a 6-0 home thumping of Gillingham in March 2003, with McCarthy unable to recall when he last oversaw such a margin of victory.
"I can remember the last time I was beaten more than 5-0, which was Southampton here (0-6 in March 2007)," added McCarthy. "I can't remember too many 5-0 scorelines, but this turned out to be a comfortable night in the end with what was a good professional performance.
"Once we managed to get the second goal it completely opened up the game, and after that there were more chances."
Source: PA
Source: PA