Femi Seriki heartbreak gives Sheffield United fresh problem to solve after moronic Charlton Athletic reaction
Femi Seriki faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines after rupturing his patella tendon at Charlton Athletic, leaving Chris Wilder with another problem to solve at right-back. The Sheffield United boss also explained why he withdrew Hamza Choudhury shortly before Seriki's devastating injury.
The biggest blow from Femi Seriki’s devastating injury at Charlton Athletic on Saturday was undoubtedly dealt to the player himself, whose season is over and who could face even longer on the sidelines. But it is also an undeniable setback for Sheffield United, too.
The Blades had been awaiting the full-back’s return for a while now, after he damaged a knee earlier in the season away at Blackburn Rovers. With Matt Doherty struggling for fitness, Hamza Choudhury has held the fort admirably.
But Seriki’s return was set to give United another dimension to their play, an extra attacking option down the right after the comeback of Harrison Burrows down the left. A horror patella tendon rupture at the Valley has thrown everything back up into the air again.
To make things even worse, Seriki had only been on the pitch a matter of minutes when he went down. It looked innocuous enough at first, but it quickly seemed apparent from his reaction that something wasn’t right.
It’s probably asking too much, but hopefully the moronic Charlton fans around the press box felt a bit of shame when news filtered through of its seriousness. They’d spent the whole first half berating Romelle Donovan and spat similar bile in Seriki’s direction when he was clearly in a lot of trouble.
Chris Wilder, on the touchline, heard similar from fans around him and called them “uneducated.” That was being kind. Seriki was understandably devastated in the away dressing room before being whisked up to his native Manchester and the next steps assessed.
At least, in the tiniest silver lining to the heaviest cloud, Choudhury’s withdrawal at Charlton wasn’t anything serious. He was on a booking, and up against a dangerous operator in Tyreece Campbell.
Rookie referee Matt Corlett was under pressure from the home crowd and you got the sense that more cards were coming, so Wilder took the decision to protect Choudhury.
Just a few minutes later, Seriki’s season was over and United’s plans were in disarray. Moving Japhet Tanganga to right-back was his only real move left, after Jamal Baptiste’s right-back experiment earlier this term didn’t end well, and United were all at sea as a result when Matt Godden volleyed the home side’s winner with just over 10 to go.
In the medium term it remains to be seen if Seriki’s absence affects United’s plans in the January transfer window. They moved to sign Choudhury after he was ruled out for a few months earlier this season, and Wilder will surely want a specialist in that position capable of playing regularly.
“I thought the decision to book Hamza was ridiculous, because the boy was offside,” Wilder said. “You can say he shouldn't have pulled him, but the lineman should give offside straight away.
“It was a strange old game for the referee. He was a pretty inexperienced referee, and I think it's his fourth game in the Championship in a competitive game.
“And with Hamza, we were really cautious regarding what happens. All it takes was one slip, he clatters into the back of somebody or something happens and we're down to 10 men.
“Hamza didn't want to come off. I don't really want to take Hamza off in that particular moment, but we felt that potentially how the feel of the game was, that there was potential to happen.”