Chris Wilder rejects Sheffield United concern over Sheffield Wednesday clash amid key trio uncertainty
Chris Wilder rejects Sheffield United concern over Sheffield Wednesday clash amid key trio uncertainty
Chris Wilder is confident that his Sheffield United players will not take their eyes off the ball against Bristol City this evening, with the Steel City derby against city rivals Wednesday looming large on the horizon. The Blades take on Liam Manning’s Robins with the prize of going top of the league in their grasp, at least until Leeds host West Brom 24 hours later.
Sunday’s trip to Hillsborough has dominated focus of many fans for weeks, but United have adapted a policy on giving their complete focus to the game in front of them this season and aren’t about to change their approach in the final 10 games of the campaign. Wilder is wrestling with some fitness and suspension concerns, with Vini Souza and Gus Hamer both limping out of Saturday’s win over Preston North End.
Another key man, defender Anel Ahmedhodzic, is also walking a disciplinary tightrope after picking up his ninth booking of the season recently at Queens Park Rangers. A yellow card against City would incur an automatic two-match ban and rule him out of the derby, but the cut-off point passes at full-time tomorrow evening.
Asked if he has had to guard against any complacency in the camp with the derby on the horizon, boss Wilder insisted: "That takes care of itself. It's a quick turnaround. After the game Saturday, they were in yesterday for a recovery day. We're in [Monday] and full focus is on Bristol City. The weekend will take care of itself.”
The silver lining of Souza being withdrawn against Preston was that it avoided the risk of him missing the Wednesday clash through suspension, having picked up eight bookings so far. But Ahmedhodzic is in a more precarious position after being harshly penalised at Loftus Road for perceived time-wasting.
“The cut-off is after Bristol City,” said Wilder, “and then after that, it's 15 until the end of the season. We've managed to get our way around that. I'm disappointed that Anel got booked against QPR but apart from him, I think everyone else is OK. Gus [Hamer] is on 11, so we're pretty safe and pretty comfortable to deal with that situation.
“We have to be competitive in our approach, as we always are. Its another competitive game, a top Championship game on Tuesday night. It didn't come as a surprise to us, the physicality of the game on Saturday and we managed to come through it.
“We had to deal with duels, win headers and tackles and and I thought Jack [Robinson] and Anel were outstanding on Saturday, because it was a pretty physical game and a physical approach from the opposition.”
After tomorrow night, with Ahmedhodzic hopefully coming through unscathed, Hamer will become the next United player most at risk of a further ban, having already served a two-match suspension this season after his 10th yellow card. He has to get through the final 10 games of the campaign without picking up four more yellow cards and if he reaches 15 before the end of the season, he will sit out three games.
Read more on Sheffield United: Blades sweat over duo ahead of Owls clash amid Hamer, Souza concern