Revealed: Why Sheffield United are taking a huge gamble with Lys Mousset

Mousset was a surprise inclusion in the side which travelled to Burnley on Tuesday, having played just over an hour of football since undergoing toe surgery earlier this year.

Although the Frenchman failed to complete the game, being withdrawn midway through the second-half, Wilder is contemplating selecting him again at Selhurst Park as injury and illness continues to wreak havoc behind the scenes. Around half a dozen members of United’s backroom staff and “two or three” players missed the defeat at Turf Moor after testing positive for Covid-19.

“We had Lys out there because I wanted to go with the three centre-forwards,” Wilder said, after partnering Mousset with Rhian Brewster and David McGoldrick. “We wanted to be positive, that’s why he was out there.

“Lys had barely half a game in him. But that was more than some, including Oli Burke who wouldn’t have even been on the bench if we’d have had others available. But to be fair to both of them, and you have to applaud them for this, they were willing and ready to give it a go to try and help the team.

“It’s something we wanted to do and, with the position we are in, we had to do and have to do.”

Burke, who replaced Mousset after the break, had been expected to miss the contest because of a back spasm. But with Oli McBurnie unavailable for selection after aggravating a shoulder injury, United will be forced into another change of system unless they can be nursed through the New Year period.

Captain Billy Sharp’s failure to appear on the short-handed bench Wilder unveiled at Burnley suggests he was prohibited from taking part.

Mousset, aged 24, missed the opening nine games of a campaign which has seen United slip to the foot of the table after failing to win any of their 16 outings so far. He required an operation to repair damage to his foot, sustained during a pre-season friendly against Preston North End.

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