Ipswich v Palace: IT was a tackle from a previous era of football.

Ipswich Town manager Mick McCarthy – a no-nonsense defender in his playing days – has heaped praise on Richard Stearman’s thunderous challenge on Jonathan Parr in Tuesday night’s 3-0 home win over Crystal Palace.

The hard, but fair, sliding tackle from the on-loan Wolves man saw his opponent limp off at 0-0 and led to the five minutes of stoppage-time that Town scored twice in.

“It was a game-changing tackle that,” said McCarthy. “It lifted the crowd and lifted the team. I didn’t want to see the full-back get injured, but the two of them tackled and he got the ball. There was no complaints for it. It was a fabulous tackle.

“It’s one of them you’ve got to get right otherwise you’re coming to sit with me in the stands. It was a terrific challenge. Of course I’m sorry the guy has got injured though.”

Asked if might attempt to sign the 25-year-old permanently in the summer, McCarthy – who alongside Terry Connor put great faith in the former England Under-21 international at Molineux – said: “He’s a Wolves player. I wouldn’t even begin to talk about it because it’s unprofessional and unfair. What I will say is he has done very, very well. He has been excellent.

“He’s not my player though. Wolves might take him back, somebody else might fancy him the way he’s been playing.

“They (Wolves) have got (Ronald) Zubar, (Kevin) Foley and (Matt) Doherty, so they were kind of blessed with right-backs and we took advantage of that.”

Meanwhile, Frank Nouble looks set to keep his place in the starting line-up at Sheffield Wednesday tomorrow following his first goals for the club.

The 21-year-old – a £25,000 signing from Wolves in January – showed great desire to chase down lost causes and capitalise on mistakes from keeper Julian Speroni and defender Peter Ramage.

Manager Mick Mccarthy said: “He’s only been denied his opportunities by the fact that David (McGoldrick) and (Daryl) Murph where playing together and they were doing okay.

“Frank perhaps wasn’t ready when he was first in the door. He had his cameo at Peterborough and did really well. And he would have stayed in the team had he not hurt his hamstring.

“I don’t know any fans that don’t like people who work hard. The first port of call should be that. We all come in and train everyday, so if we’re not fit enough to run around it’s a disgrace.

“Frank’s got the mentality to want to do it.”

– See tomorrow’s EADT for full match preview. For live match updates from Hillsborough, follow @Stuart_Watson and @ChrisBramms on Twitter.