KEVIN Blackwell has sought to allay supporters fears that James Beattie's Bramall Lane future is again in doubt after granting the former England international permission to miss the club's whistlestop tour of Europe.
While his team mates prepare for Saturday's friendly against Helmond Sport - the third and final game of their trip to Hungary, Belgium and Holland - Beattie's presence at United's Shirecliffe training ground has prompted conspiracy theorists to suggest that Blackwell is planning for life without the £4m striker.
But the United manager, who last week revealed Beattie is nursing a slight muscle problem, has now elaborated on the exact nature of the injury in an attempt to prevent a fresh round of speculation linking the 22 goal marksman with a move elsewhere.
"James is feeling some soreness in his calves and so he's staying at home to stop anything more serious developing," Blackwell told The Star. "Really, it's nothing.
"This is purely a preventative measure and it's a condition that James has suffered from for a few years now.
"There's nothing to worry about."
Blackwell's argument is given further credence by the fact that United's fitness and conditioning staff have wrapped Beattie in cotton wool throughout the club's pre-season programme.
Indeed, this writer witnessed Beattie watching from the sidelines as the rest of Blackwell's squad performed a series of sprints on the second day of training last month.
However Beattie, who scored 22 goals during his debut season in South Yorkshire, did take part in circuit training and ball juggling exercises designed to sharpen the players' control.
Blackwell, who also insisted the poor weather blighting the continent is not affecting United's preparations for the new campaign, has devised to gruelling fitness programme to whip United into shape for the Championship opener at Birmingham City on August 9.
But he denied that the "tight hamstrings" affecting Chris Armstrong and Nick Montgomery are a direct result of his no-nonsense regime.
"Everything is going fine apart from the weather," he added. "We've gone from a wet Hungary to a very wet Belgium but we're still right on track.
"It's not stopped us from doing the work we intended to do.
"It's only normal that, at they step things up, that the lads who haven't really played for the last nine months get stuff like this."
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