Porter brought back by Wilson to give Blades crucial cover for run-in

The Sheffield United manager, mindful of having so far failed to add to his forward pool ahead of the emergency loan deadline on March 28, has elected to cover his bases by recalling Porter.

It had been expected that the 29-year-old’s loan would be 
extended after an initial month with the Shrews, but Wilson has had a change of heart.

Porter scored once in five appearances during his time at the Greenhous Meadow.

His last outing came as a late substitute in the Shrews’ 3-2 victory at the MK Dons on Tuesday night.

This followed a return of just two goals in 19 games for the Blades in a stop-start campaign, with the Lancastrian hampered by a succession of niggly injuries.

Porter’s last goal for the Blades came in the 4-1 home win over Stevenage – who they visit tomorrow – on November 17.

Wilson said: “My initial thoughts were for him to go out and get some games under his belt.

“The best thing from our perspective and Chris’s as well is that he needed to play games and he now has played a few at Shrewsbury and he has helped us out with a couple of results.

“From their perspective as well, they have brought in other strikers and it is looking a bit healthier in terms of their position for them to stay up.

“For us, we also felt if the March deadline came and went and there were no other players coming in, then we would be a body short. It is important we were not in that position.”

Wilson is hopeful of doing some loan business and acknowledges he is conscious of being caught short in terms of his squad – especially with Tony McMahon and Kevin McDonald walking a suspension tightrope.

Both have been booked nine times and stand one caution away from a two-match ban.

“The weather has made the situation a bit more delicate in terms of the number of games we are going to have right at the end of the season and we do not want to go into those games not having the bodies in there,” said Wilson.