Burnley's Premier League plight - third from bottom and two points behind 17th placed Cardiff - had Mick McCarthy elucidating about how difficult the league can be for a team which needs to battle for every scrap.
McCarthy is good friends with Burnley manager Sean Dyche and spoke to him earlier in the season.
"I just told him my thoughts on how hard it was for me at Wolves when the investment wasn't there in terms of other clubs - it'll be the same with Sean," McCarthy told Sky Sports' Goals On Sunday.
"It's hard to be that team that week in, week out, has to be at 100 per cent. Stopping the opposition, pretty much, more than them stopping you.
"You've got to be so stoic about it, so tough, so resolute every week. You're not going to play teams off the park. You might outgun them, outfight them, out scrap them - that sort of thing, that is hard to do."
McCarthy believes a factor which has hurt Burnley this season was their involvement in the Europa League. They exited at the playoff stage in late August after a 4-2 aggregate defeat to Olympiacos.
McCarthy remembered a time at Wolves when there was a possibility that his side could qualify for Europe and evasive action may have been required.
I remember when I was at Wolves and they said we might get in it through the Fair Play League when we'd come to the last game of the season.
I said, 'If we've got any chance of getting in through the Fair Play League, I'm going to chin the ref in the dressing room. It's not happening. No way.'
"Sean, it was brilliant getting there," added McCarthy.
"Then, when you get there, it's a bit like, 'Be careful what you wish for.' It's probably the worst thing in terms of them staying in the league."
