Richard Stearman urges Wolves not to panic

Jan 29 2009 by Robert Tanner, Birmingham Post

Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Richard Stearman has done his best Corporal Jones impression and told everyone associated with the club not to panic after their 1-0 defeat to promotion rivals Reading.

The setback meant the Royals closed the gap on league leaders Wanderers to two points and with third-placed Birmingham City also picking up a victory over Derby County to move to within four points of their West Midlands rivals, things are getting tight at the top.

Wanderers did, at one stage, hold a comfortable and commanding lead over their rivals but that cushion has slowly been whittled away by the Royals, who are finding their best form at the right time.

However, Stearman believes Wolves will hold their nerve and bounce back from their defeat to the Royals and he pointed out that, despite the disappointment, Wolves are still top of the table and in the driving seat.

“It’s important no-one gets edgy,” he said. “We have to remember we’re still top of the league. The chasing pack are hunting us down, but we’re very confident in our own ability and we’re going to get it right at the weekend [at home to Watford].

“To have been so far in front and to still be in front is great for the boys and we’re just going to continue doing what we’ve been doing and hopefully we’ll get it right and bounce straight back.

“Let’s hope there is no long-term damage from this defeat. We were always going to have to play Reading and Birmingham at some point and it’s just a shame we’ve dropped a few points.

“But we’ll have to get straight back at it and the last few times we’ve had a bit of a blip, we’ve bounced back with seven wins in a row, so hopefully we’ll do that again. Reading have supposedly some of the best strikers in the league and there’s been plenty of talk been bandied about their value, but I thought we defended very well. We were just unlucky with the goal,” he said.

Stearman’s centre-back partner, Neill Collins, was the culprit, steering his header past Wayne Hennessey for a decisive own goal, before Collins’ evening went from bad to worse as he was shown a red card late on for dissent.

Collins may have been cast as the villain in some quarters but Stearman backed his team-mate to bounce back and said his loss from the team through suspension this weekend would be a blow as he felt they were forming a useful partnership.

“I’m not sure why he was sent off, to be honest, I think it was foul and abusive language to the referee’s assistant,” Stearman said. “It’s unfortunate because I think myself and Neill have done particularly well when we’ve played together. It’s just a shame that he’s now going to have to miss a game at the weekend.

“Speaking as a back four, we were very disappointed to lose because Wayne only had one save to make all night which was a free kick.

“I think we defended really well on the whole to limit them to that, both from a personal point of view and from the viewpoint of the team.”