Talking points from Chris Wilder's press conference ahead of Hull City vs Sheffield United
Thursday 12 September | Anel Ahmedhodžić, injury news, and looking ahead to Hull
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On Anel Ahmedhodžić
After Anel Ahmedhodžić released a statement about his personal life, Chris Wilder spoke about how the Bosnian centre-back has responded.
CW: I should imagine it’s something he [Ahmedhodžić] didn't really want to deal with but he has asked to deal with it in his own way. So you have to respect that. I respect that, not just as a footballer, but as a human being as well. And, you know, we talked about it, obviously, second part of last season, where he was off it a little bit. When you look at footballers as well, you know supporters see him on a Tuesday night and a Saturday afternoon. There’s quite a lot of other things happening in their lives, which you have to respect as well. So on one thing that I will I do know is that he'll get the full support of myself and the coaching staff and his fellow players and his popular guy.
Now, he's playing really well. He's, he settled down. He's made his statement. He wants to concentrate on football. I want to concentrate on football, and hopefully we'll get performances out of him, as we have done so far this season.
On injuries and international returnees
CW: We've got a few doubts amongst the group, as you can imagine, but I'm not going to give anything away, and we'll do our best to get the boys that are doubtful right for Friday night.
[On Oliver Arblaster’s withdrawal from the England youth squad] I'm not going to talk about Blaster anymore.
[Harry Souttar] is used to that process of travelling away with Australia, he was fine about it. He was desperate to play, so he's okay. He's come back. And the other boys came back yesterday, and the day before.
Louie Marsh was involved with the elite squad England U20s. We went over to watch him on Tuesday night, and he got on for half an hour and scored a goal. So that was good for him.
[Andre] Brooks has been outstanding, massive boost that he’s back. We had concussion laws obviously off the back of the ball that hit him on the back of the head against Barnsley. He missed out, but he's trained really well, and he's really pushing.
[Tyrese] Campbell, got a hattrick in the in the U21s. Shackleton getting there as well. So a good period for us in terms of working them on the training ground, and minutes for Rhys Norrington Davies against Watford were outstanding. So it's important that we get these up to speed pretty quickly.
It's important, you know, the size of the squad, it's a tight group, and we have to get everybody fit and healthy. Jack Robinson's on his way back, and Tom Davies is the only one that we've got from a medium term injury point of view. But, you know, [there’s a] glint in his eye as well.
On Hull, their summer and the ‘derby-ness’
CW: A lot of changes in the summer. I suppose it’s a surprise for everybody that Liam [Rosenior] went and an experienced manager, [was] brought in from Germany. A lot of changes, and different ways of playing as well. So they'll have been delighted with with the International Break to get themselves going.
We have to expect them to be at their best. It's going to be competitive, aggressive. It's not Sheffield Wednesday, not Leeds but it's still a tough place to go. And they'll be looking to get their first win of the season, and we'll be looking to continue in the way that we left off with, with an outstanding performance. After the game, it felt Sheffield United. It felt what we were all about. And now what we have to do is show that consistency in approach and play to keep this going.