Oliver Arblaster outlines toil of 13-month injury journey after answering Sheffield United SOS call
Oliver Arblaster outlines toil of 13-month injury journey after answering Sheffield United SOS call
Oliver Arblaster, the Sheffield United midfielder, has opened up on the physical and mental toil of his 13-month injury absence after it came to a welcome, if premature, end on Tuesday night. The Blades man had missed almost 400 days with an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
But he answered something of an SOS call from the Blades for the midweek clash with Norwich City, with boss Chris Wilder’s first-choice midfield decimated by illness and injury.
Wilder admitted afterwards that Arblaster should ordinarily have been nowhere near the starting XI but he got through an hour of the 1-1 draw, which continued United’s unbeaten run as they look to salvage something from their season.
Jairo Riedewald is expected to return from illness ahead of tomorrow’s trip to West Bromwich Albion, which could take some of the pressure off Arblaster, while fellow academy product Sydie Peck missed the Canaries draw with a calf injury.
Oliver Arblaster outlines toil of 13-month injury journey after answering Sheffield United SOS call
And in an emotional social media post, Arblaster admitted that there were times he wasn’t sure if his return to the Bramall Lane turf would ever happen.
“[After] 394 days, 2 surgeries, 6 injections, and countless MRI scans,” Arblaster wrote, “that feeling was special. A day I wasn't sure would ever come again, especially after numerous setbacks during the hardest period of my career.
“Hours spent questioning whether I could overcome this, but months and months of hard work and determination got me to the point of walking out last night.
“None of this would have been possible without my close friends, family, and Mrs, who have all picked me up from my lowest moments, I can't thank them enough. Also, a huge thank you to my teammates and everyone at the club who encouraged me to keep pushing to help me get through it.”
Wilder revealed post-match that he didn’t tell Arblaster he was back in the starting XI until the day of the Norwich game. “He was fine,” the Blades boss said.
“He played at Man United two years ago and stuck the armband on, played against Newcastle and against those sorts of top players, and he’s a top player.
“I’m delighted he got through. It's been an incredibly tough 12 or 13 months for him, personally. The biggest takeaway is his 60 minutes. He's going to be an important player but yet again I'm going to have to look after him as well from a loading point of view.”
In an ideal world, however, Arblaster would be nowhere near the starting line-up and Wilder will hope for better news on the injury and illness front ahead of this Friday’s trip to West Brom.
“Absolutely no chance,” he admitted. “For him, all of a sudden, to get chucked in just shows you, I think, where we were today. Can he play 60 minutes? Yeah, he can. Should he have played? No, he shouldn't have.
“He should have been eased in and had 20 minutes here and maybe 30 minutes there, and maybe another couple of under-21 games going past 60 minutes. But sometimes you just have to get on with it.
“I suppose, when we look back at the result, we've kept an unbeaten run going, although we’re disappointed that we've not added to our total. We'll get players back for Friday and I suppose the biggest positive is that we've got a super player, who’s been out for 13 months, back on the pitch in a red and white shirt.
“Those things are maybe the biggest takeaways, from a positive point of view, from tonight's game.”