Clarity on Kalvin Phillips’ Sheffield United absence v Lincoln City as Chris Wilder hopes for another huge injury boost v Portsmouth
Clarity on Kalvin Phillips’ Sheffield United absence v Lincoln City as Chris Wilder hopes for another huge injury boost v Portsmouth
Kalvin Phillips’ injury issue is not expected to keep him out of Sheffield United’s midweek trip to Portsmouth, Chris Wilder has insisted, after the on-loan Manchester City man missed this afternoon’s 3-0 win over Lincoln City. The Blades returned to winning ways after the international break.
But they did it without Phillips, who was a notable absentee against the recently-promoted Imps as Patrick Bamford’s brace, either side of Tahith Chong’s first for the club, banished some of the doom and gloom that had been building around Bramall Lane.
With both Phillips’ recent injury record, and his performances since returning to United on loan from City earlier in the summer, his absence from the teamsheet will have sparked concern amongst Unitedites.
But Wilder, when asked if the issue was anything serious, replied: “No, nothing. He just picked up some over the last couple of days. I think if we were going into last month of the season, then he would have played.
“But we're not going into last month of the season and we understand Kalvin's injury situation that he's had, so no need. He will be fit to travel down to Portsmouth on Tuesday afternoon.”
The loss of Phillips was negated by good performances from Joe Rothwell and Sydie Peck in the middle of the park. Rothwell should have got on the scoresheet when Peck set him up early in the second half, but the bad miss didn’t cost United in the end.
“Kalvin could have played today,” Wilder added. “I just made that decision. He just felt some tightness in his abductor. He trained yesterday and I just decided that it wasn't worth the risk.”
Romelle Donovan started on the bench after “a little bit of an illness” while Wilder welcomed back Ryan One and Harrison Burrows to the bench after their recent injury absences.
“We’ve lost a lot of attacking players who would have most certainly helped us over the last six to eight weeks,” added Wilder, who hopes to have Femi Seriki back soon.
After Wednesday night’s long trip to Portsmouth the Blades face another trek down south to Bristol City next weekend.