Sheffield United set for triple boost ahead of Bristol City clash as boss makes approach promise despite lead
Sheffield United set for triple boost ahead of Bristol City clash as boss makes approach promise despite lead
Sheffield United will receive a triple injury boost ahead of Monday’s play-off second-leg at home to Bristol City - with boss Chris Wilder promising that nothing will be taken for granted despite the Blades’ 3-0 advantage in the tie. The Blades put one foot in the final later this month with a stunning result in Thursday’s first leg.
Ahead of Monday’s return to home soil, the Blades will have Femi Seriki, Ben Brereton Diaz and Jesurun Rak-Sakyi to call upon after all three missed the first leg through a combination of injury and illness. All three were close to being involved at Ashton Gate and will now give boss Wilder another significant boost as he looks to get the job done and book United’s place at Wembley.
“We made a decision on Femi and Breo, on Thursday night, and we're delighted to say both will be involved on Monday,” said Wilder. “Credit to the sports science department, the conditioners and the doctors and everyone else who don’t get any recognition to give me the opportunity to pick from a clean bill of health.
“There's been a lot talked about this club over a number of years from a fitness point of view, we needed to get back to that because you need your best players available and in training. All those players we couldn't call upon last season and the experienced players were on the treatment table.
“We've got that feel now, we're all together and pushing to get into the team and respect when they're not in the side. Callum O’Hare been outstanding the last two or three games, Tom Davies came on on Thursday and made an outstanding contribution. Rob Holding and Kieffer Moore have played a part.
“Femi’s pushing, Brooksy’s played, Sam McCallum has featured. They're all giving their all and respect the decisions we make, and respect their teammates as well. There's going to be some disappointment on their part but they take it in the right way. And we'll need all that togetherness to go strong into a hopefully memorable night on Monday.”
Rak-Sakyi hasn’t played since the defeat at Burnley last month but will also be involved for selection. "He's just had a little bit of a tight hamstring, so we've been careful,” Wilder added. “If there'd been a gamble to have, we'd have had a gamble. He was close to being involved on Thursday and he'll be involved on Monday.
"We need to be at our strongest, because there's no gimmes. The game was a tight game, they came out with a load of energy. They didn't really create a lot, we created a lot of chances. The red-card decision did swing the tie in our favour.
"There's been a lot of talk from their manager but I think the universal feeling was we could have counted ourselves unlucky in terms of Tyrese’s header and there were two actions - a deliberate action in terms of pulling Kieffer back, then got the foot on the ball.
"The game gave us an opportunity in the second half but we like to think in the first half, we created the better chances. Our fight has got to be bigger than their fight.”