Sheffield United facing delicate balancing act ahead of Sunderland play-off final amid fitness warning
Sheffield United facing delicate balancing act ahead of Sunderland play-off final amid fitness warning
Sheffield United’s training sessions may notch up a little in terms of intensity ahead of the play-off final on May 24 - but boss Chris Wilder is mindful of striking the right balance ahead of a winner-takes-all shootout with Sunderland at Wembley. The Blades discovered their opponent on Tuesday evening as the Black Cats overcame Coventry City with a late Dan Ballard goal.
As things stand Unitedites still don’t know when the game will actually kick off but preparations are well under way, with tickets going on sale to season-ticket holders yesterday and opening up to the wider fanbase later this week.
The Blades’ players had a day off yesterday after letting their collective hair down a little but attentions have quickly turned to the showpiece final, with the Blades looking for glory at the 10th time of asking in the play-offs. But there does seem to be a different feel about this attempt, which saw United book their Wembley place with a remarkable 6-0 semi-final aggregate victory over Bristol City.
Sunderland, in contrast, found things a lot more difficult against the Sky Blues and needed Ballard’s header in extra-time injury time to avoid a penalty shootout. That will not have gone unnoticed by United’s coaching staff, with Sunderland not only playing a day later but also going all the way to 120 minutes and exerting a huge amount of both physical and mental energy in their 3-2 aggregate victory.
"We've got to get the balance right,” admitted Wilder. “We can't lose anybody through a training injury. We've got a good injury record at the moment, everybody fit and firing. We've got Femi [Seriki] back, and him and Ben Brereton Diaz will be available.
"Jes [Rak-Sakyi] was back for Monday's game, so it's going to be difficult. There are no shoo-ins. Everyone will try to second-guess the team but we've got to pick the right team to give us the best opportunity of getting out of the blocks at Wembley."
United romped to victory over City after a slight tactical tweak utilised Kieffer Moore’s physical presence to go a bit more direct when the Robins looked to press, while Callum O’Hare only furthered his own hopes of starting against Sunderland at Wembley with a goal in both legs of the semi-final after coming off the bench.
“We’ve got six or seven training sessions left [before the final], and they’ll fly,” Wilder added. “It might feel long to everybody else but for the players, they’ve got to be physically at their peak.
“They’ve got to live like winners, train like winners and act like winners in these next 10 days. Everybody wants to win, but some players and some teams want to win a little bit more than others. And the details are in the preparation.”