Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Richard Stearman insists he bears no malice with Southampton’s Jason Euell for the lunging tackle which led to midfield man’s dismissal.
Euell was dealt a straight red card by referee Lee Mason for his stroke of half time misdemeanour. The tackle could have cost Stearman his place in England’s Under-21 side to face the Czech Republic tonight at Bramall Lane.
Stearman claimed: “He caught me just below my knee and you always feel that when you’ve had a bad tackle, it will be serious.
“Thankfully it was nothing too serious and I’m fit for international duty. If he’d smashed me from behind or I’d been badly injured, I’d have something to say, but it’s a man’s game, it was a 50-50 challenge and I’m not going to hold anything against him.
“It’s part and parcel of the game. I like to go in hard myself, but I’m not going to berate the lad for it.
“It looks bad on him and I’d need to see it again to see whether it was a sending off, but I was lucky not to be badly injured by it”.
Stearman also admitted his relief that Southampton weren’t awarded a penalty for his challenge on David Mc Goldrick.
The Saints were baying for the spot-kick but Stearman said: “I actually got the ball. It may not have looked that evident from behind, but I managed to get a slight touch on it.
“So I was grateful the ref saw that little touch, especially as the fans were getting on his back a bit over the sending-off”.
Meanwhile, Sunderland boss Roy Keane is considering recalling Carlos Edwards from his loan spell with Wolves.
The Wearsiders have suffered a spate of injuries and Keane has confirmed he will look for reinforcements if the situation worsens.
As a result, Keane could recall Edwards or Anthony Stokes who is currently on loan at Sheffield United.
Keane is adamant he will not leave himself short and claimed: “These are things in the back of my mind that I will weigh up in the next couple of days”.
nCardiff City have been hit by the news midfielder Joe Ledley will be sidelined for a month.
The Wales international, 21, dislocated his finger shortly before firing Cardiff’s winner in Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace at Ninian Park.
The injury forced him to pull out of Wales’ friendly against Denmark this week and he will now undergo surgery tomorrow in order to rectify the problem.
