Sheffield United coping but they can't take their eye off the ball in one key area

Three big players missing and no panic. It sums up the buoyant mood of the table-topping Blades, their collective strength, that they are riding these losses. But that should not lead to complacency at the top of the club when the January window comes around.

For now, Sheffield United visit West Bromwich Albion on Sunday with justifiable confidence in almost any line-up.

Defensive kingpins Harry Souttar and Anel Ahmedhodzic will both sit out the game through suspension - with their red cards coming on top of, but not to be compared with, the potentially season-long lay off facing United’s outstanding young skipper Oliver Arblaster. Souttar and Ahmedhodzic were foolish in the extreme, Arblaster simply heartbreakingly unlucky.

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In either case, these things happen across a campaign. It’s how you cope. Thanks to the likes of the redoubtable and never-to-be-doubted Jack Robinson, and another young midfield gem in Sydie Peck, Chris Wilder’s side have stayed in a groove. Plus the hugely welcome comeback of Tom Davies, a player of proven top pedigree whose late winner against Sunderland last Friday was a fairytale moment.

But the safety net stretches only so far. If Wilder reckoned, as he did, that he was a couple of signings short in the summer then you can safely assume he feels the same way going into the next window. Indeed, in a recent article in the Sheffield Star, he as good as said so.

It’s about taking out an insurance policy. If United are short of anything, it is experience. By design and necessity, it is a much younger squad with last summer’s recruitment geared to that.

There will be some dragging over the line to be done if United are to finish top two. Who expected this position? I’d argue they are not “tearing up the Championship”, as I saw a Sky account on X misleadingly claim this week. Essentially they are making a habit of winning tight games on the back of tremendous team unity and a remarkable clean sheet record.

Six of their 12 victories have been by the odd goal and they have only exceeded two goals once, the 3-0 over Oxford. It stands to probability that a few of these might start to go the wrong way occasionally. The margins are slight and United have arguably over-achieved, which is admirable in itself.

All to their great credit, of course, but what happens in January - not least keeping players - will be vital.