Richard Stearman has backed Jason Shackell to fill the gap left by Neill Collins in the Wolves defence.

Collins is suspended for the next two games after his sending off in Tuesday’s 1-0 defeat by Reading.

The games against Watford and Norwich, Shackell’s former club, will give the former Canaries captain the chance to stake his claim – he has been restricted to just four starts since his near £1million move from Carrow Road in August.

Stearman said: “I’m sure Shacks, Jody [Craddock] or whoever comes in will do a great job. Shacks has trained well and whenever he’s been called upon, he’s performed, so if he gets the call at the weekend, hopefully he’ll do the same.”

Should Shackell earn a recall on Saturday, it would be the first time he and Stearman have been paired up in central defence in what would be Mick McCarthy’s 14th different back four in 2008-09.

But Stearman believes changing personnel has not been the reason for the recent habit of conceding late goals.

He said: “That’s been the story of our season really – we’ve made a few mistakes and goals have gone in, but on the whole we’ve defended very well as a back four, whoever’s played there.”

Stearman also believes the arrival of Nigel Quashie has provided extra steel in the middle of the park.

He added: “I think so – at times we’re very attacking and we’re a little bit gung-ho. Putting Nigel in there alongside Karl shored us up a bit [against Reading this week]. He’s a welcome addition.”

The defender reckons the performance against Reading gave the players heart, despite losing narrowly.

He said: “We thought we played very well, limited them to not very much and created a few chances ourselves. We weren’t carved open but I thought on occasions we made a few good chances.

“They’re supposedly the second-best team in the league and I think we performed very well. Although we’re disappointed, we were very happy with the way we played.”