Sheffield United are in pole position for a place at Wembley later this month ahead of their play-off semi-final second leg against Bristol City tomorrow, with Chris Wilder facing something of a selection dilemma. The Blades kick off 3-0 ahead on aggregate in the tie, and are strong favourites to book their place in the final.
That could ordinarily mean that boss Wilder could be tempted to make some changes and rest some key names, but he has pledged that there will be no change of approach with absolutely nothing taken for granted in the second leg.
But he has genuine options in his squad now, with subs Andre Brooks and Callum O’Hare both coming off the bench to score at Ashton Gate, while the returns of Ben Brereton Diaz, Jesurun Rak-Sakyi and Femi Seriki also give him more welcome food for thought.
We had a go at predicting the side he would send out against Liam Manning’s side at Bramall Lane - have we got it just about right or would you do anything differently?
1. Michael Cooper
A virtual spectator on Thursday night and knows that another clean sheet will book United’s place at Wembley Photo: Nathan Stirk
2. Alfie Gilchrist
Hamza Choudhury was excellent in the first leg but I wonder if this might be a chance for Wilder to keep Gilchrist up to speed with some match minutes Photo: Andrew Yates
3. Anel Ahmedhodzic
I also toyed with a switch at centre-half but making wholesale changes may send the wrong message and so I’d expect the same partnership in the middle | Sportimage
4. Jack Robinson
The skipper got a rest in the dying stages of Thursday after being withdrawn and assuming he’s okay physically the smart money is probably on him keeping his place Photo: Andrew Matthews