"Outstanding" Sheffield United man hailed by Chris Wilder after silencing recent "noise" v Blackburn Rovers
Chris Wilder hails “outstanding” Sheffield United man’s display in Blackburn Rovers win as “noise” silenced
Chris Wilder hailed “outstanding” striker Kieffer Moore after his perfect No.9 turn in Sheffield United’s deserved victory away at Blackburn Rovers this afternoon. The Welsh international ended a mini-drought in front of goal last weekend against Stoke and followed it up with another impressive display at Ewood Park, which saw him pick up an assist and could have seen him on the scoresheet again.
Moore battled gamely against home centre-halves Dom Hyam and Danny Batth, two established operators at Championship level, and set up Tyrese Campbell’s goal as the Blades ran out 2-0 winners to puncture Rovers’ unbeaten record at home this season. Moore also saw a couple of efforts go close, one cleared off the line by Hyam and another saved by Aynsley Pears, but it was a real leader performance that should go a long way towards quieting any remaining critics of the former Bournemouth man.
For the latest Blades news straight to your inbox, sign up for The Star’s free Sheffield United newsletter
“I’m pleased, the second half more so,” boss Wilder said afterwards. “In the first I thought it was an even game. they don't have their record without doing a lot of things right, and we knew we were in for a tough game. We never take anything for granted. We started well and then got a little bit loose and didn't stretch the game enough. But we talked about that at half time and I'm delighted with how we went about it. They opened up and changed formation and risked more to try and get back into it and then the spaces opened up and we created some good chances.
“There were some really good individual performances. Harrison [Burrows, who scored the first goal] drove the game forward from left-back and Callum [O’Hare] got a standing ovation from our punters. There's been some noise about Kieffer but when you need someone to play as a No.9 away from home against two powerful centre-halves and lead the line, I thought he was outstanding.
“He won every header and linked it well. There were a couple of times he came to feet and we smashed it at him so there's no blame there from me. Ty was going to come on, we had to manage minutes a little and we felt Ty down the side would be a big threat for us when the game opened up.”