Chris Wilder desperate to have Tom Davies and Danny Ings back for Sheffield United – but he will have to be careful

The match is the first of three in a week for team still looking for their first point of the Championship season. Next are Southampton at home on Tuesday, then a trip to Hull City.

The Blades' predicament calls for experienced players, says Wilder, and Davies and Ings have both trained this week. Both, though, have had disrupted pre-seasons.

Davies picked up a calf problem early on, whereas Ings was training on his own after being released by West Ham United. It was no great surprise that he picked up a hamstring problem shortly after joining the Blades in-season, on the back of one 78th-minute substitute appearance for them.

"Tom Davies played in the (under-)21s in the week, played 45 minutes," said Wilder. "So we've got a decision to make over the weekend with him. Danny Ings has come through a week's training as well, same with him as well.

"I do believe it is a time for experience when you're going through these little periods previously, from my experience.

"It's not maybe time to experiment, it's not time to chuck a young'un in unless we feel it's the right time.

"So to get them to back, even if they're back amongst the group, training and inputting their career knowledge and wisdom through the period that we're having at the moment because they'd have been through it.

"Tom would have been through it at Everton, Danny would have been through it at West Ham as well (and Southampton and Bunley). So it's important that we get those experienced boys back."

Wilder will have to drip-feed both in.

"I think it'd be pretty reckless," he said of asking both to start. "Danny came in late and we all understood that.

"(It's difficult) when you're training on your own and you're doing bits and pieces to get up to full tilt.

"There was a little bit of a desperation to get Danny in the team and to pile his minutes up in training and I think that sort of materialised in him picking up a hamstring injury.

"And Tom has obviously not had the best of luck in terms of injuries over the last three or four years. He came back apparently really in tip-top form and in condition and tweaked a calf.

"So it'd be reckless for me just to go, 'Bosh, there you go, there's 90-odd minutes.'

"Just to have him around the place in the changing room, mixing with the players is a massive boost for us."

Given their experience, Wilder will lean heavily on Davies' and Ings' experience in deciding what they are capable of.

"it's conversations between medical staff and them as well because they know best, really," said Wilder.

"There are 40-odd games left to play and they're going to be important members of the group so to break them pretty early I'm not going to go and do that.

"But knowing the characters of all three boys, if I asked were they going to stick their hand up they would all stick their hand up.

"It's just making sure that we're sensible in terms of our approach and going on what they feel about themselves and what they can contribute to the group."

Andre Brooks is out with an ankle injury.