Sheffield United injury boost as Chris Wilder delivers positive update ahead of Lincoln City clash
Sheffield United are hopeful of having four players back in contention for tomorrow's clash with Lincoln City, with Chris Wilder confident three will be available after the international break.
Sheffield United are hopeful of having a full complement of players back for tomorrow's clash at home to Lincoln City, with Chris Wilder "absolutely certain" that three of the four will return in time to face the Imps. United were hit with a series of fitness issues in the early part of the season.
The hope was that Harrison Burrows, Ryan One, Femi Seriki and Sam McCallum would be fit after the international break, with its extra week perhaps offering them more of a chance to be fit for the Championship resumption this weekend.
Tahith Chong returned before the break, and was left out of one of Curaçao's games after an agreement was struck with the Blades to manage his workload. Seriki, who hasn't played since August, was seen as the most long-term of the Blades' short-term absences.
But the returns of Burrows, McCallum and One will give Wilder some much-needed decisions when they get back up to speed, especially if he continues with the 3-5-2 shape he has played in recent weeks.
“Hopefully, we'll have the full quartet of players back for the Lincoln game," the Blades chief said. "I'm absolutely certain three out of the four will be available, which is good.”
Asked whether the returning players were ready to start after their injury lay-offs, Wilder added: “Not really, when they've been out for eight weeks and they've had no football. So, that's the downside of the players being injured or any player being injured, that he loses match minutes straight away.”
But the elongated international break had one upside in helping the trio get back into contention. “If we hadn't have had that," Wilder added, "then maybe one or two out of the four wouldn't be available for the weekend.”
United's players had a bit of time off during the break before returning to Shirecliffe, while the Blades had at least one behind-closed-doors friendly in which they lost 2-0 to Hull City.
“There was a period where we gave the players a few days off to recover from a really hectic schedule," Wilder added. "I think all the managers in the division have supported that there's been too many games at the start of the season.
“All of these [injured] boys have been attacking players. I think that's something that should be taken into consideration as well, when people talk about us not being as good in the final third or at the top of the pitch as we should be.
"We've been reviewing individual performances, had individual meetings and reviewed team performances where we need to do better. And we understand there's improvement needed in the team from certain aspects of our play.
"We're disappointed in the position that we're in because we should be better and performances should be better. But there's still a big belief in the group.”