Sheffield United shed light on Manchester City midfielder's injury

But, speaking ahead of tomorrow’s FA Cup fourth round replay against Wrexham, manager Paul Heckingbottom confirmed the midfielder’s previous fitness issues meant he was loath to risk him at New York Stadium.

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On-loan from Manchester City, the calf complaint Doyle was diagnosed with during a training session last week is not thought to be a recurrence of the problem which troubled him earlier this term.

However, Heckingbottom told The Star: “It’s not bad. But one of the reasons I decided to leave him out was because he had a thing with his calf before. It’s not serious, like I say. But we don’t want to lose him for a while so we’re just being a bit careful.”

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Together with fellow City loanee James McAtee, Doyle started last month’s 3-3 draw at the Racecourse Ground. With United facing Swansea City and Middlesbrough, their nearest challengers in the Championship table, after the meeting with Phil Parkinson’s side, Heckingbottom is unlikely to risk Doyle against National League opposition unless the youngster’s condition improves ahead of kick-off. United are second, 10 points ahead of their rivals from Teesside following their goalless draw at New York Stadium.

“He’s out on the grass with us every day,” Heckingbottom said. “So hopefully we’ll have Tommy back out on the pitch really soon. It’s different to last time, because we were in the World Cup break so we couldn’t work him as much as now.”

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