With the chase for the automatic spots in the 2018/19 Championship campaign clearly being in Sheffield United’s own hands, we go into tonight’s second tier clash with Birmingham City looking to make our game in hand on Leeds United count and retake second spot from them.
With their victory in last night’s action over Preston North End, they have jumped back in front by two points, but a win for us obviously returns them to the chasing position.
With centre-half and manager Chris Wilder key man Jack O’Connell missing out on last weekend’s trip to Preston after sustaining a calf problem against Bristol City, Wilder was quoted by the Star as hinting that the 25-year-old could come back into his thoughts.
“Jack’s okay, he’s coming along fine. It’s the same message as last week regarding him; I’ll give him as much time as possible, because he’s an important member of the group. If he’s fit and comes through training, then he’ll be involved.”
Whether he does or not, there’s certainly no reason to rush him and potentially lose him for longer given what we have riding on the year but if he even only returns to the bench that will be a boost.
In wider news, Gary Madine comes back into his thoughts after his suspension for the red card received against Brentford, and Wilder admitted it was ‘reckless’ from our forward.
“We’ve missed him. It was a bit reckless from Gaz from my point of view; a lot of people thought it was a yellow at the time and I think it was bordering on a yellow and a red. But we’ve unfortunately not had his services for the last three games, plus most of the Brentford game, although the players came through well in his absence. It’ll definitely be a boost to have him back for the last six games.”
Onto tonight…