Morgan challenges Wolves caretaker Connor to make most of his chance

Wolves owner Steve Morgan has challenged caretaker manager Terry Connor to stake a claim for the job on a permanent basis after being appointed for the remainder of the season.

Connor will be in charge for the final 13 matches – starting with today’s encounter at Newcastle – and given the task of keeping second from bottom Wolves in the Barclays Premier League.

The West Midlands club have come in for criticism after failing to land an established manager as the sacked Mick McCarthy’s replacement. But Morgan has faith in Connor, who has been at Molineux for 13 years, to plug the gap left by McCarthy after his contract was terminated 11 days ago.

He said: “We believe we have made the right decision. Certainly the players’ reaction has been incredibly good and we look forward to Terry taking the club from now until the end of the season. We have seen a number of people, we have narrowed it down and it became clear with the way the players were responding to Terry that he was the right person to take us forward.

“At the moment it’s an interim appointment but he’s got a chance to stake a claim. We’ve got 13 cup finals left. We’re actually fed up of relegation battles but that’s what we’ve got on our hands now.”

Wolves were linked with a number of names including Alan Curbishley, Steve Bruce, Brian McDermott, Dave Jones, Gus Poyet and Walter Smith before turning to Connor.

Morgan insists all interviews were carried out in a confidential manner and is upset that some candidates leaked their interest to the media. He said: “We have never once broken a confidence of all the people we have spoken to. Other people have unfortunately done that. I can’t control what other people do.”

Game of the weekend, arguably, is the north London derby and Harry Redknapp is confident that Emmanuel Adebayor will be able to keep his cool during his first outing at the Emirates Stadium as a Tottenham player.

Tottenham and Arsenal issued a joint statement calling for calm ahead of tomorrow’s match, which has been given an extra edge due to Adebayor’s colourful history with the Gunners. The Arsenal fans’ hostility towards Adebayor stretches back to 2009 when, shortly after leaving the club for Manchester City, he sprinted the length of the pitch at Eastlands to celebrate in front of the Gunners supporters in his first game against the London club.

Redknapp, though, is sure the striker will be able to handle the pressure. “I’m sure he will enjoy going back there,” the Tottenham manager said. “He played well against them at home this year so I don’t think it will be a problem.”

Arsenal will be without Andrey Arshavin after the Russian midfielder last night rejoined Zenit St Petersburg on loan until July.

Meanwhile, Blackburn Rovers – who host league leaders Manchester City – have also lost a player to Russia, with central defender Christopher Samba joining wealthy club Anzhi Makhachkala for an undisclosed fee.

The 27-year-old made a transfer request in January but remained at Ewood Park after the winter window closed when a possible move to QPR or Tottenham failed to materialise.