The 23-year-old England B defender travelled to Molineux yesterday and will stay will Wolves for the next month, a period Strachan feels will be extremely beneficial to him.

He said:

"Competition for places in that position is very tough at the moment with David Burrows doing very well and Marc Edworthy well capable of stepping in, and we need to get Marcus as many games as possible.

"He needs games before he can get back into the Premiership and there is an opportunity here for him to do just that.

"He will be playing at a top level, in front of big crowds with a bit of pressure on him because Wolves are expected to do well – and it will be good for him."

And Strachan stressed that it was not the club's intention to sell the player, but admitted that Hall would be able to leave at the right price.

"You can never say never when it comes to transfers. If he goes to Wolves and they offer £5 million then we would have to think about it.

"However selling the player is not our intention. We are just trying to get Marcus some games."

The City boss also revealed that his team planning for Saturday’s fixture with Leeds United will have to wait until 24 hours before kick-off, due to first-team squad members on international duty.

£6 million striker Robbie Keane, and current right-back Gary Breen are both still away with the Republic of Ireland and will not return to training until Friday.