Mick: 'stop slagging Div 1'

Mick McCarthy has hit back at the people who have chosen to knock the quality of football in Division One.

Some media pundits and even some supporters have rubbished the standard of the game in the division, and it's got McCarthy's back right up.

He told the Northern Echo, "All the Herberts who think it's a poor division should try to play in it.

"There is a real buzz about this division at the moment. It annoys me to hear that it's a bad league because I don't know what justification people have for saying it.

"They said exactly the same sort of thing last year because Portsmouth and Leicester walked it. I don't know where it comes from because it's a bloody hard league. You can only play what's up against you.

"This is a bloody tough division and it has plenty of quality in it. If we get promoted then it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks."