Luke Chambers has paid a huge tribute to defensive colleague Richard Stearman and made it clear he wants the on-loan Wolves right-back to extend his stay with Town. The 25-year-old, who is at Portman Road until the end of the season, has another year remaining on his contract at Molineux.
Chambers said: "We should be doing everything we can to keep Stears here. He’s been fantastic and I’m not sure how Wolves have managed to let him go with the state they’re in.
"He has played in the Premiership and he hasn’t played at that level for no reason. He’s really enjoyed his time here and gets on with the lads.
"He likes the way things are run here and of course he knows the gaffer from his time at Wolves. I’d like us to keep the entire back four together, if we can, for next season.”
Chambers has also praised goalkeeper Scott Loach, who has stepped into the breach since on-loan Stephen Henderson was recalled by parent club West Ham United.
Loach has kept three clean sheets on the spin since reclaiming his first team place — to add to one prior to the thumb injury that saw loanee Stephen Henderson come back into the side - and Chambers added: "Loachy is a very, very good keeper. It’s just unfortunate that the gaffer wanted to bring in some competition and Hendo did very, very well when he came in.
"Every time Loachy has been called upon he has been fantastic for us so credit goes to him for saving the penalty at Derby on Saturday. He also made another couple of saves and he’s been doing that for us.
"When they do get in behind us as a team that’s what your goalie is there for. It’s never been in my mind that he’s not been good enough. He’s a top, top keeper.”
But Chambers acknowledges that Town’s impressive clean sheet record is an honour to be shared by all the players.
He added: "It’s a great record for us and it’s not just down to the back four. I think it’s been the whole team for the effort that everyone puts in every game.
"I think the gaffer’s made no secret of us outworking every team we play and that backs it up. When you have players like we have in front of us putting every effort into every single game — and that includes players who come on and have exactly the same work ethic that is running through the entire side — it makes our jobs a lot easier.
"We’ve done very well as a back four since Stears has come in. We’ve been very, very solid and it’s now nine clean sheets from our last 12 games, which is a massive pat on the back for us because that’s what we are playing the game for.
"We aim to keep a clean sheet in every game but what we must remember is that if we do concede a goal it is not the end of the world.
"We’ve just got to keep going, keep doing the same things we’ve been doing over the last few months and we’ll get ourselves back in the game with a little bit of quality from our forward players.”