Chris Wilder explains why Tyrese Campbell was absent from Sheffield United squad vs Stoke City
Tyrese Campbell was left out of Sheffield United’s matchday squad for the second Championship game running against Stoke City.
Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder has confirmed Tahith Chong’s availability was a factor behind his decision to leave Tyrese Campbell out of the matchday squad for Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Stoke City at the bet365 Stadium.
Campbell was a notable absentee for the trip to his former club, failing to make the matchday squad for the second Championship game running after also being left out for last weekend’s 1-0 reverse to Wolverhampton Wanderers at Bramall Lane.
The former Stoke man has struggled for opportunities so far this season, earning just four starts across all competitions. He was named in the starting XI for last Wednesday night’s shock 1-0 defeat to Fleetwood Town in the Carabao Cup third round.
Wilder had several attacking options to turn to on the bench against Mark Robins’ side, including the likes of Romelle Donovan, Jordan Ayew and Tom Cannon. However, it was the return of Chong from a recent injury lay-off that essentially convinced Wilder to axe Campbell from the squad.
Wilder said: “I left him out of the squad, so I made a decision. You have to pick a bench.
“Chong coming back gave us that opportunity if Rhys [Norrington-Davies] was flagging because Sam McCallum is out and we're monitoring the situation. I've talked about that and that challenge.
“That was a disappointing one because Sammy would have played today. Rhys battled through today so we needed Chong on the bench.”
Wilder added: “Tyrese, as I said in the interview (on Friday), has not done enough, but he isn’t on his own in that department.”