Express & Star

Wolves defender Richard Stearman wants Ireland call-up

Published
Last updated

Wolves' double player of the year Richard Stearman has issued a 'come and get me' plea to Ireland.

more

The 27-year-old defender, who won both the players and the fans vote at the end of season awards dinner, ended the campaign in the best form of his career.

Stearman was born in Wolverhampton and has played for several England age group teams including the Under-21s.

But he qualifies for the Republic through a grandparent on his mother's side and was cleared by FIFA to play for Ireland two years ago.

He would compete with Villa's Ciaran Clark, Sunderland's John O'Shea and Derby's Richard Keogh for a place at the heart of the Irish defence.

The squads for the Aviva Stadium double-header against England in a friendly on Sunday, June 7 and Scotland in a UEFA European Championships qualifier six days later are due to be announced in the next fortnight.

And the former Leicester stopper wants Ireland boss Martin O'Neill to have a look at him as he eyes his first senior international call-up.

"Of course I'd love to be considered by Ireland because if I'm in their thoughts it means I'm continuing to play well for Wolves," Stearman told the Express & Star. "My sole focus is Wolves but if and when that call comes, then I'd be very honoured to do that and pull on the green jersey."

[comments_cta]

Stearman believes the call-up would be well timed as he ended the campaign in his best form.

"Central defenders have their better years from now onwards really," he said.

"I'm not planning on being any different and, as I've shown in the last couple of seasons, this is the form of my life and hopefully this can continue.

"I couldn't be happier and I think that shows in how I've played.

"It's been an incredible couple of years and I want to continue to push this club to where I've been with it in the past – the Premier League. The only way it would have got any better for me was if we'd gained promotion."

And the experienced centre-back, who has been promoted three times with Wolves, believes his double honour is his biggest achievement in his seven years at Molineux.

"This year and last year I've been very pleased with the way I've played and this has got to be the peak of what I've achieved personally at Wolves," he said.

Meanwhile, Wolves have had no contact with Sunderland over Stearman's defensive partner Danny Batth while they say reports linking them with Dundee United's Turkish forward Nadir Ciftci, 23, Derby forward Johnny Russell, 25, Mansfield midfielder Jack Thomas, 18, and Shrewsbury winger Josh Ginnelly, 18, are untrue.