Sheffield United boss was never going to 'bin off' Oliver Norwood like Fulham and Brighton did

Norwood completed a hat-trick of promotions from the Championship last season when United, the club he had joined eight months earlier, finished second in the table behind Norwich City.

It was the third time in as many seasons the former Northern Ireland international had achieved the feat, following successful campaigns with Brighton and Hove Albion and Fulham - having moved to the capital on loan.

Although neither they nor Albion chose to retain Norwood’s services after entering the PL, United’s faith in the 29-year-old has been repaid with a series of impressive displays as Wilder’s side climbed to seventh in the table before the fixture calendar was suspended because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Together with captain Billy Sharp, Norwood signed a new long-term contract at Bramall Lane on Wednesday and Wilder said: “He’ll be delighted he was given the opportunity to play Premier League football after being binned twice by Fulham and Brighton. He was never going to get binned by me, he was brilliant for us in the Championship and he has been outstanding for us in the Premier League.”

United will move to within two points of fourth-placed Chelsea with nine matches remaining if they beat Aston Villa on Wednesday, after the game was selected to mark English football’s return to action following a three month long break.

Speaking at the height of the health crisis, Wilder told The Star he had put all contract talks on hold out of respect for those whose jobs in other industries had been furloughed.

But with the trip to the West Midlands less than a week away, he added: “I said at the start I thought it was not the right time to talk about new contracts and signing players and talking about the financial situation when the overall pandemic was gripping the country and gripping the world. Our focus is on Villa Park next week to get our season back up and running.”

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