Former Rangers manager Walter Smith has rejected the chance to take charge of Wolves as Mick McCarthy's successor.

Smith held talks about taking the post until the end of the season after emerging as the favourite to step into the breach.

The 63-year-old has been out of football since ending his second spell in charge of Rangers at the end of last season, but declined the opportunity to return to management in the Barclays Premier League.

Smith told the Express and Star: "It's true I'm not going (to Wolves).

"I was totally unsure whether I really wanted to do it or not. It was a purely personal thing, nothing to do with Wolves. I know Jez Moxey (Wolves chief executive) and knew I was more of a fall-back than anything. We didn't even get as far as discussing money.

"There was never a face-to-face meeting and we never discussed finance. If someone asks you, you're pleased to be asked, but the longer you think about it, you start to ask yourself whether it was right."

Wolves have endured a fruitless search in the past few days with Alan Curbishley, Reading's Brian McDermott and Brighton's Gus Poyet all rejecting their interest.

Former Sunderland boss Steve Bruce appeared to be the favourite after being interviewed last week, but Smith then moved into pole position and Wolves had even been hopeful of him being in place for Saturday's clash at Newcastle.

Smith has previous experience of managing in the Premier League during four years at Everton and was briefly Sir Alex Ferguson's assistant at Manchester United. He was also manager of Scotland for two years before returning to Ibrox in 2007 for the second time when he led the Glasgow club to three successive titles and the 2008 UEFA Cup final.

Curbishley rejected the chance to replace McCarthy for a second time on Tuesday after initially being interviewed last week, while McDermott signed a new three-and-a-half-year contract with Reading on Wednesday. Poyet has confirmed Wolves' interest but is happy to remain at Brighton for the foreseeable future