“Pivotal” Sheffield United man edges closer to much-needed return as Chris Wilder confirms expected timescale
“Pivotal” Sheffield United man edges closer to much-needed return as Chris Wilder confirms expected timescale
Tom Davies is edging ever closer to a much-needed return from injury after being hailed as a “pivotal” player in Sheffield United’s bid to turn around their season. The former Everton man missed pre-season again earlier this summer after suffering a fitness setback on United’s trip to Girona.
But he returned to the training ground in time for Chris Wilder’s return to United earlier this month, replacing the sacked Ruben Selles, and was instantly earmarked as a key part of the manager’s puzzle as he looks to arrest an alarming run of form that has seen United lose all seven of their games so far this term.
Davies took a big step in his rehabilitation earlier this week with 45 minutes for the U21s as they came from behind to beat Huddersfield Town, with first-team squad players including Tyler Bindon, Nils Zatterstrom and Ehije Ukaki also getting minutes under their belt.
Davies’ withdrawal at half-time was planned as his comeback is carefully managed, with Wilder and his coaching staff mindful of striking the right balance between getting him back as soon as possible - but not throwing him back in before he is fully ready.
“Pivotal” Sheffield United man edges closer to much-needed return as Chris Wilder confirms expected timescale
“We need Tom back. He’s pivotal,” Wilder admitted, with Davies’ fellow midfielder Oliver Arblaster also on the comeback trail. “He's one of the ones that excited me straight away. He trained on our first day.
“It’s the same situation with Blaster, managing the load and the risk and not rushing him back before he’s ready. We’ve got 40 games left so we’re not just going to chuck somebody back in before they're ready. It's not going to happen. I’m not going to take that risk.”
In the absence of senior men Davies and Jamie Shackleton, whose time at United so far after arriving from Leeds United last summer has been decimated by injury, and after the summer sale of Vini Souza to Wolfsburg, United’s central midfield has been anchored by Sydie Peck, 21, and 20-year-old new boy Alex Matos.
Loan man Djibril Soumare, 22, is another option in the middle of the park but he is still acclimatising to English football after arriving on a temporary deal from Portuguese club Braga while Arblaster has suffered a setback in his comeback bid, albeit one that Wilder played down recently.
“In an absolute ideal world, having Tom back would be a massive boost straightaway,” the Blades chief added. “But he's possibly a week or two off. I believe if he's not involved against Oxford, he'll be involved against Southampton. He'll definitely be involved against Hull. Tom's a massive player.
“One of the holes, which has been a quite big hole that we filled with a couple of the younger players, was obviously Vini, in terms of his experience. So having Tom back in there around Soumare, around Matos, around Peck and around Arblaster when he’s back, is key for us. And key to keeping him fit as well.”