Stearman gets stuck in traffic

Richard Stearman missed playing in last night's Wolves match against Swansea because he failed to turn up on time.

The Wolverhampton-born former Leicester defender was held up by snow and traffic as he made the 60-mile journey from his home in Market Harborough in Leicestershire.

Players normally have to be at the ground 90 minutes before kick-off and it's not known whether Stearman made it in time for the 7.45pm start.

But the £1.6m defender was too late to be considered for selection by boss Mick McCarthy, who revealed Stearman would have been in his starting line-up had he turned up on time, replacing Neill Collins.

Instead, Collins kept his place alongside Jason Shackell and, as McCarthy admitted, Stearman may struggle to get back in the team now.

"Richard Stearman was down to play but he arrived late for the game," said McCarthy.

"He had problems with all the snow on the roads and accidents as we've seen and was stuck on the motorway.

"I hadn't got a call and I couldn't hang on any longer before doing my team talk. Neill Collins wasn't going to play but he did and I thought he was excellent."