Do ‘a Hull’ urges Wolves’ Stearman

Wolves defender Richard Stearman has challenged the team to “do a Hull” and change the complexion of their season.

Birmingham are the visitors on Sunday with Wolves winless in seven games, a run that has seen them slump to second bottom of the Premier League, although they are only a point from safety.

By contrast, Hull looked almost dead and buried after losing 2-0 beat Burnley on Halloween, with speculation rife that manager Phil Brown was about to lose his job.

But they have just taken seven points from the last nine. The Tigers have bitten back with home wins over Stoke and Everton and a 3-3 draw at West Ham to climb to the relative safety of 15th.

Stearman has now challenged his team-mates to take a leaf out of Hull’s book.

He said: “It was all doom and gloom at Hull not too long ago, but they have put two or three results together and you can see what a difference it makes. They’ve taken a real jump out of the relegation zone from the bottom.

“That’s what we’re aiming to do by stringing a few results together.”

There have been few highlights during Wolves’ current slump, especially after four-goal defeats to Arsenal and Chelsea. But the consistency and quality of Stearman’s performances has undoubtedly been one of them.

After playing right-back, left-back and in central defence, the Wolverhampton-born stopper is relishing whatever task given and admits his pleasure at marking the top wingers.

He said: “It’s given me confidence trying to subdue people like Joe Cole and Andrei Arshavin. We’re coming up against the best players in the world and from a personal point of view, I’m fighting my corner.

“I’ve been very happy with the way the past few games have gone. I’ve been asked to do a job at left-back and I feel I’ve done quite well.

“I’ve played left-back before – one of many positions I played at Leicester, so it wasn’t completely alien to me. When I got the call, I was more than happy to fill in – as long as I’m on the pitch, I’m happy.

“It’s not completely natural to me but I’m learning with every game. I was able to adapt, I’m versatile enough to put in a performance there and I feel I’m repaying the gaffer’s faith in putting me in there.

“But it’s not just about myself, there’s not much good in a few of the lads doing well if we’re not getting points on the board. It’s about the team and things haven’t gone too well so far.

“So we’re looking at Sunday’s game as a good chance to get three points. That’s what we’re looking to do and I’m just trying to help us do that.”

Stearman admits that after playing two of the top four clubs in the last two games, the arrival of Blues is definitely a realistic chance of garnering Wolves’ first win since Fulham on September 20.

He said: “We’ve played two of the big hitters in the last couple of weeks, but this is certainly a game we’re looking to get points from.”

“We’re going to pick up the majority of our points from the teams in and around us. So if we’re taking points off the teams in similar positions to ourselves, then hopefully we can jump above them.

“We managed to get a few decent results previous to these couple of defeats, but we’d have taken one win out of those three draws. On paper, the draws are good but we need the wins and that’s what we’re looking to get from the next couple of games.”

In losing to two of the Champions League qualifiers, Stearman believes the fans must apply a sense of perspective as regards to their position.

He said: “Getting beat against anyone is tough to take – even more so if you concede a few goals as well. But people have got to understand that we’ve just been beaten by two of the best teams in the world.

“We’re new to this league so getting anything from either of them was always going to be a tough ask. But, like always, we’ll go out there and try our best and hopefully against Birmingham that will be enough. We’re more looking forward than back.

“After what’s just happened, we’re determined to put things right and we’ve got a good chance against Blues on Sunday.”

Wolves face the centre-half pairing they wanted to sign in the summer – Roger Johnson and Scott Dann – who have contributed heavily to the Premier League’s fourth best defence.

Despite trying to sign the duo, manager Mick McCarthy remains a firm believer in his current charges and has praised Stearman.

The Wolves boss said: “Richard was excellent last week. I’ve been really pleased with him playing at left-back, he’s been comfortable in there.

“Before his injury he was one of our best players. He has come back and performed really well.”

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