Sheffield United: Bitter ex-Wednesday man doubles down on bizarre Reda Khadra comments after insisting his Bristol City side "battered" Blades

Khadra was hooked after half an hour of United's win at Ashton Gate on Tuesday night, with boss Paul Heckingbottom insisting after the game that his decision was no reflection on the German's performance.

But Pearson had a different view, branding the Brighton and Hove Albion loanee "a huge disappointment" at United so far, "high maintenance" and a "difficult character".

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Boss Heckingbottom refuted those comments earlier today, insisting Khadra had never posed a problem. But Pearson, the former Sheffield Wednesday captain, doubled down on them, speaking ahead of his side's weekend clash at Middlesbrough.

"Maybe the lad is thinking he should have come here because they hooked him off after 30 minutes," Pearson said of Khadra.

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"It shows you that players have to make decisions about their career rather than their agents. I don’t know exactly what happened but I’ve been asked about loan players on many occasions. He was a player that we were very keen to take.

"I like him as a player, he’s a match-winner. He’s probably high-maintenance but I think our dressing room could do with somebody like that now when in the past they couldn’t.

"It’s an example of it has to be all three parties that are in line with each other. It is the club that owns the player, the club he goes to and the player himself.

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"I like players who keep me on my toes. There needs to be some uncertainties, you don’t want everyone to be the same. It doesn’t mean that players lack discipline and lack an understanding of what the team needs. You need strong minded people, determined and reliable people you need someone that’s going to bring something different."

United were far from at their best at Ashton Gate but returned with three points thanks to Iliman Ndiaye's second-half winner. "The game we played the other night, it's a real frustration because we battered them and lost. We lost because we defended one phase of play not very well and the officials couldn’t get it right.

"Up the other end we couldn’t find a way to unlock the door or take the chances when they came along."

Khadra too good to write off after latest blow, but question marks still remain