Sheffield United dressing room reaction to Sydie Peck star turn speaks volumes as season resurgence continues
Sydie Peck struck three times in 19 minutes to inspire Sheffield United to victory at Deepdale, with Chris Wilder delighted by the midfielder's all-round contribution as the Blades continued their recent revival.
Sydie Peck deservedly basked in the glory of a remarkable evening at Preston North End as his hat-trick inspired Sheffield United to victory at Deepdale - but post-match there was talk in the dressing room about the two more he could have scored as well.
Peck scored three times in 19 minutes as United turned a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 half-time lead against the Championship’s bottom club, who set up a slightly tense finish when Callum Lang scored after coming off the bench.
But United saw out the game without any further alarm to keep their good recent run of form going, even if their start was a step back after the positive 90-minute display against Wrexham on Friday night.
“Apart from the first two minutes and maybe the last five minutes, I thought my team was outstanding,” boss Chris Wilder said. “We gave them an obvious lift and a leg up with the start.
“We have to do better in that sort of situation. They're coming off the back of a disappointing performance and result on Saturday, so we gave them a big lift. I thought our play tonight was good.
“We created some good opportunities and controlled the game. We were just a bit disappointed just after half-time that really never took the game away from the opposition. It's a poor goal late on for us to concede.”
It would have been a travesty if Peck did not finish on the winning side, with an excellent box-to-box display capped by three goals - including a stunner of a second into the top corner.
He had chances to add to his tally in the second half as well, forcing a save from Daniel Iversen in the home goal down to his left and flashing another effort wide of the far post.
There was talk afterwards about how he should really have added to his tally, although it is hard to be too critical of a midfielder who had just scored United’s first hat-trick since Billy Sharp’s at Aston Villa back in 2019.
But it speaks volumes about the demanding environment at United, and how Wilder is looking to eke out every drop from his squad as they look to continue their upward momentum.
“His all-round performance was excellent,” Wilder said of the young midfielder. “I'm talking about playing him higher and getting in the box and making forward runs.
“He's done it right the way through his young career, scored goals, and he needs to score more. I spoke to him about Leicester last season when he got a couple. We had a good afternoon at the King Power and he's got that in his locker.
“I think he's a touch disappointed because he's had a couple more opportunities in the second half, and we did. We got into some great positions. Chong should score, Sydie possibly should score.
“I'm not going to be greedy and say every opportunity that we have we should score from, but we created enough to take the game away from the opposition. Sydie will get all the headlines, and deservedly so.”