Why Sheffield United star sympathises with Spurs man

Already angered by his team’s FA Cup defeat, the England international’s temper reached boiling point when he noticed his brother reportedly being abused by one equally irate supporter in the home section of the ground.

As the whole sorry scene unfolded, and the game’s ruling body began investigating the incident inside Tottenham’s new ground, Baldock’s mind drifted back to his own bitter experience of watching a family member in action.

“I have a lot of sympathy with Eric,” Baldock said, remembering the day he went to watch his own sibling and fellow professional footballer Sam represent Bristol City. “I went to see him when they played Coventry and Northampton’s ground and I had to leave at half-time, I just couldn’t put up with it because the fans were hammering him.

“When I got home, though, I turned on my phone app and saw that he’d scored two goals. I wished I hadn’t left then but if the reports are true, and he (Dier) saw someone having a right go at his brother and pushing him, then it’s your natural instinct to want to defend them.”

Earlier this week, the Baldock’s found themselves in direct competition when United travelled to Reading, where Sam now plies his trade, in the fifth round of the cup. Chris Wilder’s side triumphed, setting-up a quarter final tie against Arsenal, having already reached eighth in the Premier League only a season after being promoted from the Championship.

Twenty-four hours later, Norwich also booked their place in the last eight following a penalty shoot-out. With Daniel Farke’s men scheduled to visit Bramall Lane tomorrow, Baldock felt compelled to keep abreast of events in north London.

“I was watching it as a fan really, but it was nice to see the opposition coming up,” he said. “We do so much analysis anyway and we had a meeting about Norwich on Thursday. But it was good to see their patterns of play and stuff like that.”

Norwich also clambered out of the second-tier last term, but unlike United have found adapting to life in the top tier much more difficult. However, despite being bottom of the table, their victory over Spurs came less than a week after Leicester City were beaten in a PL encounter at Carrow Road.

Baldock, who scored one goal and created another when United triumphed there in December, said: “We weren’t at our best in that game but the gaffer really got into us at half-time and we turned it around, so I’ve got fond memories of that.

“We know how good Norwich are and so we won’t take them lightly, they showed why not the other night. As players, it’s only natural to think what we might achieve but we also know that we have to work hard and be at our best to do that.”