Oliver Arblaster suffers fresh Sheffield United injury frustration as Ruben Selles details care plan
Oliver Arblaster suffers fresh Sheffield United injury frustration as Ruben Selles details care plan
Oliver Arblaster has suffered a setback in his return from a serious knee ligament injury, boss Ruben Selles has confirmed, with Sheffield United giving him all the support they can both in a mental and physical capacity. The 21-year-old has not played since last November’s win over rivals Wednesday.
He has since undertaken a gruelling physical rehabilitation programme and hoped to be back on the grass around this time, ahead of Friday’s trip to Ipswich Town. But that has not happened as he would have wished, with his expected return date pushed back to later in the year.
“He had a setback some weeks ago,” said boss Selles ahead of the trip to Portman Road, “which has delayed his moment to join the team at least for another month and a half or two months. Right now, there is not an exact moment [for his return]. So we're not going to speculate because those ACL injuries always come with something more.
“I think the first thing we need to address is that he's back training with the team, but healthy. Then probably we need to test him in some under-21 games and then he will be able to come back. Hopefully it's earlier than Christmas.
Oliver Arblaster suffers fresh Sheffield United injury frustration as Ruben Selles details care plan
“But I don't want to speculate about a date because then we have situations that we are talking about now. ‘It was supposed to be in August, now it's in September, now it's going to be in November.’ The most important thing is that he’s fine and ready to play and we don’t put him in any risk. So that he plays the next hundred games for the club once he's come back.”
During a sit-down interview with The Star at United’s pre-season training camp in Girona, the Blades academy product spoke about the help he has received from a psychologist in terms of managing the disappointment and frustration of his first major injury at such a formative time in his career.
And as well as giving him the best support from a physical perspective, United are also mindful of looking after one of their prized assets mentally as well. “We have great support around the players,” Selles added.
“Not only from my position or the technical staff. We also have a psychologist working and supporting those moments and trying to create programmes and moments for Oli to work hard. But also moments where we can just relax a little bit and see what's in the future, moments that he can just work into those psychological moments that are going to be there.
“Because it's not only about the moment that you come back and play, it's about the moments that you cannot see. The club is well organised on that. We are giving him the support that he deserves, and that’s the same for everyone. It's very important that we have that platform where they can feel supported.”