Jack O'Connell's comeback date could be known soon as Sheffield United get set to face Arsenal

Chris Wilder, the United manager, expressed fears O’Connell would miss the remainder of the 2020/21 campaign after revealing he had been forced to undergo surgery following a recurrence of a problem which has troubled him since the summer.

Although he will not abandon plans to draft in a replacement before the transfer window closes on Monday, Wilder is attempting to discover if O’Connell does have a genuine chance of recovering by February or March or was simply putting a brave face on his situation.

Being touted as a future England international before breaking down in training ahead of last weekend’s game against Leeds, O’Connell’s absence is a major blow to United’s hopes of recovering from their difficult start to the 2020/21 fixture programme, which has seen them lose to Wolverhampton Wanderers, Aston Villa and Marcelo Bielsa’s side.

O’Connell, aged 26, has been affected by a knee issue since the beginning of his professional career. However, although he has previously been able to manage the condition, O’Connell took the decision to go under the knife to try and cure it once and for all after Wilder acknowledged it was affecting his overall conditioning and performance levels since the implementation of ‘Project Restart’ earlier this year.

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