Source: Team_Talk
McCarthy backing for Mancienne
England Under-21 international Mancienne, who is on a season-long loan from Chelsea, came under fire in some quarters for his display during last weekend's 3-1 defeat at Blackburn Rovers.
While McCarthy admits Mancienne was at fault for the second goal at Ewood Park, he bristles at criticism of the 21-year-old and expects him to play a key role against Fulham.
Mancienne will retain his starting role against Fulham and McCarthy said: "Michael has been terrific for us.
"I get a bit annoyed by questions about the confidence of players and whether it fluctuates.
"Let me tell you, if confidence fluctuates up and down that badly when you have a poor game by Michael's standards I would be worried about all the players.
"I judge that by the way I judge myself. Have a poor game, what do you do? Go and play better and Michael has been fantastic.
"Michael has no fault at all over that first goal we conceded at
Blackburn. Karl Henry rolled him a bad pass, that was the problem.
"El-Hadji Diouf then rolled the tackle and the ball bounced well for him. It could have bounced the other way but it didn't.
"There were a lot of people condemning Michel for that goal and I thought what nonsense.
"It just highlights to me that they know nothing about it the people that condemned him.
"The second one was down to him because he was marking the guy who headed it so that was down to him. But he is a consistent player.
"You can imagine him putting together 20 good performances on the spin now."
Having seen his side lose three of their first five Premier League games, McCarthy has admitted victory is vital against the Cottagers.
With that in mind, he is considering handing a first start to his giant new striker, 6ft 7ins Stefan Maierhofer, who grabbed the consolation goal against Blackburn on his debut following his £1.8m move from Rapid Vienna.
Maierhofer has quickly made a big impact in McCarthy who can see similarities between himself and the Austria international.
McCarthy added: "He is tall but he is not wiry. He is Mick McCarthy with another five inches on top of him.
"He is a threat and it is not just the aerial threat because of his size. You could see that against Blackburn when he caused problems.
"He scored one, had one saved and had another that whistled past the post in 45 minutes. He will be an asset to us."
McCarthy is boosted for the clash by the return of winger Michael Kightly, striker Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and right-back Kevin Foley.
Kightly has been missing since March due to foot and hip problems while last season's leading scorer Ebanks-Blake (hamstring) and Foley (knee) have been sidelined since the opening game of the campaign against West Ham.
Kightly and Ebanks-Blake will start on the on the bench but Foley may have to be thrown straight back in as a replacement for Richard Stearman who is facing a spell on the sidelines after twisting his ankle in training.
