Inside Sheffield United treatment room amid Chris Wilder update on key trio ahead of Sunderland clash
Inside Sheffield United treatment room amid Chris Wilder update on key trio ahead of Sunderland clash
Sheffield United will continue without three influential players for their New Year’s Day clash with fellow promotion-chasers Sunderland, boss Chris Wilder has confirmed, as his threadbare squad carry on being stretched further and further. The Blades end the year in the automatic promotion places, a remarkable effort considering the resources at Wilder’s disposal.
He has been without top scorer Tyrese Campbell, first-choice winger Jesurun Rak-Sakyi and player of the year so far Vini Souza, whose return from a hamstring injury lasted just 45 minutes on Boxing Day before he was replaced. With Oliver Arblaster and loan star Harry Souttar both out for the season, and right-back Femi Seriki also missing recently with a calf complaint, Wilder’s patched-up Blades are limping - almost literally - towards the opening of the transfer window tomorrow.
Asked about timescales for Campbell, Rak-Sakyi and Souza after Sunday’s draw with West Brom, Wilder responded: “It won't be at Sunderland, we'll see what happens at Watford [at the weekend] and if not, it will definitely be Norwich. We're massively up against it. We had two attacking subs [against West Brom] and one's an 18-year-old [in Ryan One].
“They're bringing DIangana, Dobbin and Swift on, Paddy McNair doesn't get on. We're right up against it, the same as on Boxing Day. There are a lot stronger squads out there and I think we all recognised it at the start of the season. I wasn't trying to be clever. We talked about how the tests would come if we lost a couple of players and we've lost more than a couple of players, which is disappointing.”
United were so stretched against the Baggies that Wilder was forced to call up attacking right-back Sam Colechin to the matchday squad, just months after he turned 17 years of age. “We've got players in a modified training situation who we are massively risking,” Wilder added. “But I can’t expose a 17-year-old player who's hardly played in the under-21s, even though he's going to be a good young player, or Marshy or Billy Blacker or Jamal to a top-end Championship game because it's not fair on them as well.
"But as you know I really dislike when slots are left open on team sheets because they will have had a close-up and personal look at proper footballers like Jack Robinson and Anel [Ahmedhodzic], Kieffer Moore, Tom Davies and how they prepare and go about their business. It's a great experience for them. If there's a little win bonus in there it might put a couple of quid in the piggy bank for them as well. But it's a great experience for them."