Paul Heckingbottom will be without a number of players for Tuesday night’s FA Cup fourth round replay against Wrexham.
The chances of any youngsters featuring in this game are slim. Daniel Jebbison is still serving his three-match ban after being dismissed at the Racecourse Ground. Meanwhile, Will Osula is still on the sidelines after suffering a broken jaw in a development match. Talented young midfielder Oli Arblaster is out with an illness.
This will force United into fielding another strong team in the replay, although, they will be wary of this coming Saturday when they host Swansea City, and have the chance to go 13pts clear of Middlesbrough before facing them next Wednesday night.
Heckingbottom revealed on SUTV, in yesterday’s press conference, that George Baldock has been back in training:
“He played last week so no issue with fitness it’s just getting over this calf issue he’ll be doing something tomorrow that will get him closer to the weekend.”
Ciaran Clark could possibly feature in some capacity against Wrexham after he has increased his training regime in the past week.
John Fleck is also close to returning to the matchday squad along with fellow midfielder Tommy Doyle, who has been running on the grass in recent training sessions.
This FA Cup replay could provide the likes of Oli McBurnie a platform to get back to his previous form. United’s number nine has started the last two games in all competitions registering that early goal at the Racecourse Ground, but hardly getting a sniff last Saturday in the South Yorkshire derby.
Should McBurnie start and find the net against the National League side once more, it will hold him in good stead for this coming Saturday’s crucial home game against his former side Swansea City.