Richard Stearman: Wolves players champing at the bit

Aug 7 2008 By Brian Halford

RICHARD Stearman today asserted that Wolves are as ready as can be for their Championship opener at Plymouth on Saturday.

In fact, the central defender reckons the squad was fully primed to go even last weekend, as Blackburn Rovers found out to their cost.

Rovers were beaten 4-2 at Molineux as Wolves’ final pre-season warm-up provided them with a morale-boosting springboard.

Mick McCarthy’s men touched impressive heights at times in the friendly.

And those heights, insists Stearman, are the standards to which Wolves must aspire at Home Park and then in each of the following 45 instalments of the league marathon.

“Pre-season could not have gone much better,” said the ex-Leicester man.

“The gaffer has stated it is one of the best pre-seasons he has ever seen and I couldn’t agree more. We have got the results on the pitch and the boys are looking really good and raring to go.

“I think we showed against Blackburn we were probably ready a week early. We could have gone straight into the season last Saturday.

‘‘We showed we can mix it against Premiership opposition and that is the standard we are looking to set this season, starting at Plymouth.

“The boys are champing at the bit to get going.”

Summer signing Stearman has achieved an immediate rapport with Wolves’ supporters and is likely to link up with Jody Craddock at the heart of defence on Saturday.

If so, the 20-year-old will be happy. But he is taking nothing for granted.

“I am delighted with the way I have settled at the club,” he said.

“I think myself and the other new players have settled in really well and that is down to the rest of the squad and the staff being so helpful. That has benefited us newcomers.

“Playing alongside a player of Jody’s quality is great but we have several good centre-backs here, Jody and Neil Collins and Darren Ward, so whichever partnership the gaffer decides to pick hopefully will be a profitable one.”

* Rob Edwards has joined Championship rivals Blackpool on a two-year contract for an undisclosed fee.

The defender has signed a two-year contract at Bloomfield Road so will face Wolves when the Tangerines visit Molineux on November 22.