Chris Wilder says Sheffield United facing late injury decisions on 'two or three' players

The Blades manager was playing his cards close to his chest but Ben Brereton Diaz and Oli McBurnie were said to be close to returns at home to Brighton and Hove Albion seven days earlier, only for both to miss out.

"I'm not going to give anything away, the game's hard enough without letting everyone else know what our business is,” he said.

"What I would say is there's been progression with two or three players. Whether they'll be involved on Sunday afternoon, we'll wait and see, we'll leave it to the last minute.

"It's not a great situation to be in at the moment.

"We felt is if we've taken a couple of steps forward and some big ones backwards.

"To be at our best we need consistency, continuity and to be able to work on the training ground with those players and when you can't, it makes life a little bit more difficult for you."

Wilder had goalkeeper Ivo Grbic on the bench for last week's 5-0 Premier League defeat to Brighton after recovering from concussion.

When Grbic joined in January, Wilder said the Croatian would be his first choice but he persevered with Wes Foderingham last week, only for him to concede five goals for the third second time in three games.

"It's a decision," is all Wilder would say. "I have made that decision."

Seven days earlier, Wilder had said George Baldock was 10 days to a fortnight from a return, and Daniel Jebbison another week further back. Tom Davies was said to be a couple of weeks from being ready to start.

Mason Holgate is suspended after his red card against Brighton.

John Egan remains on the long-term injured list, along with Chris Basham.

"There's no timescale," said Wilder. "If John gets back for the end of the season he'll have done remarkably well but he's pushing for that because of his attitude. Basham is a long way off, just getting back to living a normal life is the main target for him and our medical staff."

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