Sheffield United: Fresh detail emerges on Anel Ahmedhodzic's illness

Paul Heckingbottom, the United manager, admitted that several members of both his first team squad and coaching staff have been affected by the sickness bug in recent days.

After complaining of feeling unwell during last week’s defeat by Rotherham, Ahmedhodzic was placed into quarantine ahead of Saturday’s win over Cardiff City before later being ruled-out of the fixture. But the Bosnia and Herzegovina international has been diagnosed with a different condition to the one which caused problems behind the scenes ahead of the trip to Wales.

“Anel, it’s not the same thing, it’s different,” Heckingbottom told The Star. “We’ve got a virus going around. But he’s not got that one.”

Ahmedhodzic, who has announced he is expecting a baby with his wife Marijana, was described as being “hopeful” of being declared fit to face City. But like John Fleck and Oli McBurnie, who had actually been put up for interview during the pre-match media conference, he did not appear on the team sheet. It remains unclear if Ahmedhodzic actually had a genuine chance of taking part in a contest which saw United finish the latest round of Championship fixtures in second or whether he was being used as a pawn in a mind game.

Heckingbottom declined an invitation to specify exactly what Ahmedhodzic and some of his colleagues are suffering from after George Baldock’s strike had settled the meeting with Mark Hudson’s side. But with most players granted a temporary leave of absence from the Randox Health Academy - United are not scheduled to return to action until the middle of next month - it is hoped the problem should clear-up by the time they report back in a week’s time.

“It’s just a virus,” said Heckingbottom, when pressed to shed more light on the situation. “A few of the lads have had it and some of the staff as well. It’s been going round the place recently unfortunately.”