Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder praises "perfect captain" Billy Sharp for professional attitude after being left out of Blades side

Sharp, who scored 30 goals in United's League One promotion season and added 12 last campaign despite not being a regular starter, was named on the bench for the first two games of 2018/19 as Wilder preferred David McGoldrick and Leon Clarke in attack.

Sheffield-born Blades fan Sharp was recalled for the trip to QPR and scored as United recorded their first win of the campaign, and added another in midweek as Wilder's men lost in the Carabao Cup to Hull City.

And Wilder, who confirmed that Sharp will play tomorrow afternoon against Norwich City at Bramall Lane, said: "It's great for Billy to get a couple of goals. As I've said I want reactions from players, I don't want them to sulk, and Billy has been the perfect captain in and around the place.

"We felt it was right to go with Leon and David in the first two games because their form in pre-season was excellent and they looked a decent partnership.

"But players have to be ready to go in and prove the manager wrong, and Billy can't do anything more than he has in the last two games."

United were hit on the eve of the game when a virus hit the camp, with Mark Duffy and at least two other unnamed players suffering in the build-up.

"Billy's just a great example," Wilder added.

"I want fighters and winners, and Billy has fought. I don't think his motivation is to stick it to me because we haven't got that relationship, but I need 22 or 23 players like that, doing whatever needs to be done for the bedt of the club.

"Richard Stearman showed it when he came in at QPR. We went with John Egan earlier in the season and he helped us get a result.

"I'm not a manager who decides the best players for a game and then leaves them on the bench to not get a result. I think that's ridiculous.

"We're off and running from a win last Saturday, had a good performance on Tuesday against Hull and hopefully we can go again on Saturday."

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