Callum O'Hare returns to Bramall Lane on Friday having failed to score since his £7m move to Wrexham, with his confidence knocked after a difficult start. Richard Sutcliffe believes the former Sheffield United forward needs a spark to rediscover his best form.

Callum O'Hare returns to Bramall Lane tomorrow night hoping to rediscover his best form after a difficult start to life at Wrexham, with his confidence taking a hit during a frustrating couple of months since he left Sheffield United. The forward moved to Wales on deadline day in a move worth around £7m.

He is yet to find the back of the net for the Red Dragons, though, who travel to South Yorkshire 17th in the Championship table despite another big summer outlay as they look to improve on last season’s seventh-placed finish.

And he will come up against a United side who have shown signs in recent times of clicking into gear, having initially struggled to recover from the summer departures of O’Hare, Gus Hamer and Andre Brooks.

"He works hard, but you can see his confidence is a little bit shot," Richard Sutcliffe, the Wrexham reporter for The Athletic, told The Star. "It's been a flat start, but it's not been a great start for the team either.

"I just think he needs a spark, really. His confidence is really low. He's not alone in that, but it's not happening for him. At Blackburn last week, there were a couple of times when he got in a position and you thought: ‘Just hit it.’ But then he put it out wide one of the times to Issa Kabore and you thought: ‘Just back yourself.’"

O’Hare’s move to Wales was a real coup for a side who faced United as a non-league club only a few years ago, and whose remarkable rise up the divisions enabled them to take their best remaining player in the final hours of the transfer window.

"I've seen him play for United. He's a smashing footballer. I was really chuffed they got him," Sutcliffe added. "I think he's an upgrade on what they had. He's not shown it, but we've not seen the true potential of what they actually signed.

“He just needs that first goal. Obviously, there might be the law of the ex, when you go to your former club, on Friday night. I don't know. But he’ll definitely start, because he's the only No.10 they've got who’s fit and any good."

Wrexham's attacking struggles

O'Hare's difficulties have not come in isolation. Wrexham have struggled to find consistency in the final third, with injuries to key attacking players leaving the summer signing carrying a significant burden as the club looks to build on last season's seventh-place finish.

Former Wednesday man Josh Windass, who scored 16 goals last season and has previously been of interest to Blades chief Chris Wilder, has been unavailable for much of the campaign and is injured again, while Nathan Broadhead, who cost Wrexham £7.5m in the summer of 2024, has not featured since the end of August.

"They've played most of the season with two No.10s and a lone striker," Sutcliffe explained. "But the last two, he's gone to two up front, which is Moore and Sam Smith, with O'Hare behind, just as a No.10 on his own.

"Moore's been excellent. He's shouldered the burden really well, but Sam Smith's not really had it happen for him yet. So they are struggling going forward, and I think O'Hare is suffering with that. There's not a lot of spark in any of them.

“It's a bit of a shame for him, really. For quite a few of the summer signings, it hasn't clicked yet. And he's definitely one of them. But he’ll come good.”

Expectations rising at Wrexham

Wrexham's struggles this season have been a sharp contrast to their remarkable rise through the divisions recently, with the expectation that they would push on again this season after last season’s highest-ever place in their history.

Around £30m was spent on new players but for Sutcliffe, the early returns have been mixed. "A couple of wing-backs have come in and done okay, and but I think the keeper's an upgrade on what they had. I think O'Hare is as well," he said.

"He's not shown it, but we've not seen the true potential of what they actually signed. The fans are still behind the manager. They'll sing his name, 'Walking in a Parky's Wonderland' and everything like that, but there's a little bit of flatness."

One moment in particular stood out in a recent defeat to West Bromwich Albion. "West Brom scored with 84 minutes gone, so six minutes to go. For the first time I've ever seen in the five years that Parky's been there, people just headed for the exit," he said.

"It's been a poor game, but there have been so many games where they've been two goals behind going into stoppage time and got it back to five-all, or been 5-2 down and won 7-5 and things like that.

"There's always been that belief that they'd come back, but that wasn't there against West Brom, and I was a little bit shocked by that. I’m sure it’ll come good for O’Hare. But we're now two months in and it's not happening so far for him."