Goals from Steven Fletcher (two) and Adlene Guedioura enabled Wolves to win Sunday's derby clash with West Brom at Molineux and move out of the bottom three.
It was the first time they had climbed clear of the relegation zone for 10 weeks. But McCarthy will only celebrate if they are in the same position on May 22 after the final two matches with Sunderland away and Blackburn at home.
McCarthy said: "It's a huge result, particularly with the position we were in before the game and, indeed, still are in now.
"I've maintained all along when we've been in the bottom three that it's May 22 when we want to be out of it. So, while I'm proud of the way we've played in such a big game, we all need to remember that.
"There are two games to play and, while we're out of it for the moment, we're not safe and we need to stay focused on them because we want to stay out of the bottom three. We've got to approach the remaining two games in exactly the same way as the one against West Brom."
Source: PA
Source: PA