Manager Chris Wilder has given a fuller reaction to Sheffield United’s victory over Ipswich in the FA Cup and praised youngster Regan Slater for his individual performance on the day.
Heading to Portman Road for the FA Cup third round tie against Mick McCarthy’s Ipswich side, United took a one nil victory with Nathan Thomas putting us through to the fourth round draw in the 25th minute.
A clearly delighted Wilder told the Official Site as he met with the media that the biggest positive for him was the overall performance put in.
‘I’m not surprised by the consistent attitude of my players and how they go about it in what was not the most glamorous of FA Cup ties. We made a few changes, but we’ve come and do and a job and come through it unscathed.’
Wilder went on to say.
‘We’ve produced a solid performance and should have taken the game away from the opposition, I thought there were some excellent performances and my senior players were absolutely outstanding. The likes of Stearman, Wright, Basham, Lafferty and Sharp demonstrated a first-class attitude and that’s a fantastic example for the other players involved.’
As for Thomas’ strike itself.
‘It was a great goal worthy of winning the tie, but I’m more delighted we’ve not just gone out of the back having made changes.’
He added.
‘We’ve not taken our eye off the ball, I told the players I wouldn’t accept excuses and our game management was spot on. They had very few chances and it was a very good performance from a group of players that haven’t played much recently. I’m also delighted we’ve got an excellent young player on the pitch in the second-half and he’s showed what he’s about.’
Having praised the seniors and then reference the ‘excellent young player’ Wilder continued to say of 18 year old Slater and the one tackle in particular that raised eyebrows.
‘I know we’re early into the year, but the highlight for me was that tackle from Regan, that was made in Sheffield! Duffy was sitting with us, looking at him thinking where has that come. He cemented their lad with a proper tackle, he’s a good kid and I’m delighted for him. I know what it is like to be from the city and make a mark at your hometown club and I wanted to make sure he took the plaudits at the end.’
Talking up the youngsters in general.
‘We’ve got a great Academy, a lot of the praise should go to the people involved there, the scouting is excellent, know we’re looking for those with us to kick on. They’ve got to be good enough, that’s crucial, I won’t just play them for the sake, Regan deserves his chance and I would have loved to have got Norrington-Davies on to. Regan did well, he showed people what he’s about, know he must get his head down in the U23s and wait for his next opportunity.’
Ahead of the tie, United also confirmed that Ben Whiteman had been recalled from his loan spell at Doncaster Rovers. The 21 year old scored seven times in 30 appearances for Darren Ferguson’s side and Wilder said.
‘He’s done well for Doncaster and we’re delighted with the amount of games he’s played under Darren. We’ve monitored him closely this season and now we want to have a closer look at him and see exactly where he is at in terms of his development. We’ve also got to make sure we’ve got competition and depth in our squad between now and the end of the campaign.’
