Richard Stearman walks tall as one of the Wolves minority who have already stopped Kevin Phillips scoring – and beaten him.
Now the determined centre-half is aiming for a repeat performance against Birmingham.
Derby goal king Phillips has proved Wolves’ nadir with four goals against them for arch rivals Albion, plus another two for Southampton at Molineux in the Premier League.
By contrast, Stearman was part of Leicester’s shock 4-1 romp at the Hawthorns last March, when Phillips’ 69th minute arrival for Roman Bednar failed to turn the game.
It’s worth noting that Phillips is not expected to start the game, as Blues boss Alex McLeish continues his policy of playing 4-5-1 away from home, with Marcus Bent expected to be the lone attacking spearhead.
But however the game is going, it seems Phillips’ arrival is as inevitable at Molineux as the South Bank singing ‘Those Were The Days’.
As a Leicester player, Stearman had the misfortune to come on himself and suffer two late Baggies goals – including a Phillips penalty – in a 2-0 Albion win in September 2006.
The newly-capped England under-21 international is hoping to prevent the former Sunderland goal machine continuing his Molineux scoring habit.
He said: “We’re going to try our best to keep him out. We’ve kept things pretty tight at the back over the past few games, as our goals against shows.
“If we carry on doing what we’ve been doing, hopefully he won’t score. I’ve never faced him as a centre-half, but I have as a full-back, so I’ve never come up against him directly, but I’m relishing the opportunity – if selected.
“He’s always been a threat wherever he’s been, because he is such a quality player and I’m sure he won’t be any different.”
Stearman believes the only way to stop Phillips is just to stick as close to him as possible.
He said: “With someone who has got such good instincts in the box and always seems to be in the right place at the right time, you have just got to latch on to him.
“You have always got to be looking around you, knowing where he is. You have got to keep an eye on any striker, but we’ll be keeping an even closer eye on him.”
Stearman stressed no stone will be left unturned in Wolves’ preparation in dealing with Blues’ main threat.
He said: “We don’t know their starting line-up, but with every player, we pick out their strengths and weaknesses, so we know what we’re coming up against.”
Ambitious Stearman is also relishing facing Phillips to improve his own game.
The 21-year-old said: “To be the best, you’ve got to play against the best and he is certainly one of the best in our league, so the more often I play against these players, the better I’m going to become.”
Stearman stressed Wolves can’t afford to concern themselves purely with Phillips, with Bent, Cameron Jerome and James McFadden also in the frame.
The former Leicester man said: “You can’t just put all your eggs in one basket and concentrate on Phillips. They have got match winners all over the place.
“We’ll certainly keep an eye on Phillips but they can score goals from all over the pitch.”
It’s typical of the muck and nettles nature of the Championship that four days after marking a target man in the burly shape of Phillips’ former Southampton strike partner James Beattie, Stearman is facing an altogether different test in Phillips.
But it’s water off a duck’s back to the stopper.
He said: “I’m not particularly fussed. I like to pit my wits against all sorts of strikers – whatever shape, size strengths or skills they have, I like to match myself against them.
“I’m confident in my own ability to put myself up against them.”
Whatever goal threat Blues pose, Wolves have already proved they have more than enough scoring capability to trouble Alex McLeish’s defence after scoring 46 goals – 17 more than their West Midlands counterparts.
Stearman said: “It’s not just about what Kevin Phillips can do. He’s not the top goalscorer, we’ve got a few in there ourselves. “They have got to look after big Chris (Iwelumo), Sylv (Ebanks-Blake) and Kights (Michael Kightly) as much as we’ll be looking after their strikers.
“We’ve got a goal threat and they’re on form as well. It’s great that Chris is continuing his form and the boys were delighted that Sylv got back among the goals, after three games without scoring.
“He fully deserved it after putting such a good shift in and hopefully that can continue.”
See Also:
Share this article:
What are these?