Wolverhampton Wanderers v Blackburn Rovers: Karl Henry insists players are behind manager Terry O'Connor We went out, second half, and ended up doing the job, albeit by the skin of our teeth. He is a calming influence. He's tactically very astute and pays a lot of attention to detail. As soon as the appointment was made, he won the players over. He's certainly not got the manager's job and all of a sudden he is swaggering around the training ground in a different manner. We're fully behind TC and he's fully behind us. After 13 years at Wolves in various coaching positions, the respect that Connor has from the players is clearly well earned. The fear, though, is that such familiarity could breed a certain dressing-room complacency. It is a small thing but noticeable that Henry still refers to Connor as "TC" and Mick McCarthy as "the gaffer." Connor's authority faced a significant test this week when, after Sunday's 5-0 defeat against Fulham, the captain, Roger Johnson, arrived for training on Monday in a state that club insiders described as "worse for wear." Johnson has since apologised and been disciplined. Henry is adamant that there has been no dip in training-ground standards. "I've certainly not seen anyone coming in drunk," he says. I think it's an absolute mountain made out of a molehill. There's certainly nothing going on in our changing room that we're not, as a group, or TC is not, in control of. It's a damaging story for us, for Terry Connor maybe, that this comes out, that maybe looks like control's been lost. That's certainly not the case at all. Discipline is high. There is no problem. Henry, though, is candid about the wider failures of the players this season. After last season's "great escape," when Wolves survived after being in the bottom three from October until mid-May, there was hope that they would consolidate. That looked especially possible after they began this season with two wins and a draw. "We didn't make that jump forward," Henry says. We've been here every season. It's a horrible place to be. There are five of us cut adrift and, unless anyone above goes on a real terrible run, they are pretty much home and dry. Players have to take responsibility on the pitch. A few of the more vocal players have got to step up and help out and be leaders on the pitch. We have to look at ourselves as players. It has not been good enough. The feeling of player responsibility, and perhaps blame, also extends to McCarthy's sudden sacking of last month. Henry was McCarthy's first signing at Wolves almost six years ago. "I don't think anyone expected the gaffer to go, especially once the transfer window had gone," he says. No one wanted him to go either. When he came in and said he had been sacked, everyone was gutted. It was a shock. Change is a weird thing. It's unsettling. The day it happened, the lads all got together in the evening, had a bite to eat and said, "Whoever comes in, we need to make sure we are fully behind them." We all said that we won't have time for half the team to be split and thinking, "This is not as good as it was." We are delighted that it was TC and we desperately want to stay in the league, to stay up for TC, for Mick McCarthy and finish the job they set out. McCarthy influence in Henry's personal development in the holding midfield position was huge. His style, though, has attracted criticism, not least from Joey Barton, who said after the Queens Park Rangers match earlier this season that Henry "is always sticking his foot in and trying to hurt people." Henry is quick to accept his mistakes and points to the "catastrophic repercussions" of his recent sending-off for a petulant kick on Marc Albrighton. He is not, however, ready to take lectures from Barton. "If I, as a person, had been arrested for deliberately harming another human being, several times, different people, I certainly wouldn't accuse anyone else of going out to hurt people," he says. The whole thing is laughable. I certainly don't go out to purposefully harm anyone. That people who know me, who watch me week in, week out, will know that I'm a fair player. All I do is try and win the ball back. It's been my best season to date. As a local lad who was born just four miles from Molineux, the desire to continue that development in the Premier League could hardly be stronger. A scan this week has given Henry hope that he will recover from his hamstring injury in time to face Manchester United on Sunday week. "Most of my family and friends are Wolves supporters," he says. I get the brunt of it when we are playing poorly and all the good stuff when we are playing well. I know how much it means to everyone. Playing for your hometown club, playing in the top league in the world, it can't get much better. I'm desperate to help keep us there.