Why John Fleck's return to action did not please Sheffield United's manager

The midfielder confirmed his availability for the meeting with Carlo Ancelotti’s side by emerging unscathed from a 45 minute run-out during the 2-0 defeat in the east Midlands after missing United’s previous four games through injury.

Although Fleck’s presence in the squad would ordinarily be seen as a boost ahead of a game Chris Wilder feels his team must win to keep its dream of qualifying for Europe alive, the United manager is more concerned with getting to the bottom of last night’s display at the King Power Stadium - which he described as being “lacking in every single aspect”.

“I’m not bothered about getting minutes inside people’s legs,” Wilder responded, when asked if Fleck’s appearance was a “positive” to take away. “John was poor when he came on. Everyone was poor when they came on, apart from the goalkeeper (Dean Henderson) who kept us in the game.

“We were totally dominated, all the way through, so John getting 45 minutes is totally irrelevant as far as I’m concerned.”

“I’m not bothered about it, the only thing I’m bothered about is performances and results,” he added. “So if anyone thinks John getting some time out there on the pitch makes up for the fact we produced neither, well, they’ve not sat through what I’ve just watched.”

Despite Wilder’s demeanor, being able to call upon Fleck for the final two games of the season will be viewed as a plus behind the scenes at the Steelphalt Academy, where coaching staff are preparing for the penultimate match of United’s campaign. The Scotland international has been one of Wilder’s most influential performers this term with even Ben Osborn, the player who profited the most from his fitness issue, labelling him “my player of the year” before facing the former Premier League champions.

Wth United set to complete their fixture schedule at Southampton next weekend, Wilder said: “Everyone has got to do better.”

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