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"Six points clear? There's still thirty games to play," McCarthy said when asked how it felt to be two wins ahead of Birmingham at the top. "I'm sure people will say it's the dour Yorkshireman talking but it is common sense because we just have to keep winning games.
"We didn't get carried away when we lost three and we won't get carried away when we win a few. You can get the spotlight on me and drip water onto me but I won't say anything different.
"It is a competitive league and it is about trying to achieve consistency. That's what the best teams have. We're not playing brilliant football but we are winning games and that's down to all the hard graft, the running, tackling and horrible bits of the game that you have to do.
"I don't think we're a great football side by any stretch of the imagination, we're miles away. But we work for each other and we stick together and if you do that then you can show your ability.
"Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea don't get to the top of the Premier League just because they've got the best players. They get there because they work the hardest as well. I've said all along we want to do better than we did last season and currently we are, and we've got to continue that."
On the match itself he added: "I think the win was fully deserved. It's probably as good a performance as we've had because we've even got a clean sheet as well. We took the game to Burnley who tried to be solid and we had to be patient at times, but it was a really good result in the end.
"It's always the case when you're only a goal up and have created chances but not got a second that the opposition might nick one. It's the law of averages, they're always going to get a chance but I think our second goal really killed them off."
Like most people from Burnley, Owen Coyle was far from happy with the performance of Darren Deadman. "There are a number of things that annoyed me," Coyle said after seeing the Clarets lose for the first time in six games. "I don't want to get caught up in referees and we are all biased towards our own team, but there were a number of things that went on out there.
"Wolves dominated the opening half, and scored a goal, but it was hand ball. Kightly clearly handled it in the build up, there is no doubt about that. For the second of our bookings, Clarke Carlisle's first, it was a free kick and the point I was trying to make, which fell on deaf ears again, is that there was no malice in the challenge.
"It's a foul, but it is far too easy these days to brandish your cards and hide behind your rules. We are all looking for some common sense, but there were far worse things that went unpunished. All I know is I have Clarke Carlisle in the dressing room with a suspected broken nose.
"As it happens the second goal was self inflicted, The boy concerned allowed the ball to bounce and we've paid a heavy price. So we are disappointed, but there were positives in the second half and we'll move on. We will probably learn more from today than we ever will.
"You can see why Wolves are top of the league though and I don't want to take anything away from them because they deserve to be there. But we have played some good sides now and I think if we had played in the first half as we did in the second, I think we could have got a better result."