Sheffield United defender George Baldock's greatest highlight ahead of Blades milestone

SHEFFIELD UNITED defender George Baldock admits he will feel a swell of palpable pride if he lines up for the Blades for the 150th time in Saturday's Championship game at Bournemouth - and is also quick to acknowledge what has been the highlight so far.
George Baldock. Picture: Simon Bellis/SportimageGeorge Baldock. Picture: Simon Bellis/Sportimage
George Baldock. Picture: Simon Bellis/Sportimage

While it, perhaps surprisingly, does not have anything to do with the club's golden first season in the Premier League in 2019-20 or a joyous promotion at the end of the previous season - his personal high point will still go down exceedingly well with Unitedities.

It came across the Steel City at Sheffield Wednesday when the Blades secured a 4-2 triumph early on at the start of his career with the club he has quickly grown to love in September 2017,

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Baldock, 28, who joined the club from MK Dons that summer, said: "I still say to all my family, the best day was the game at Hillsborough.

"Coming from a club down south and talking to all the locals, they told me the importance of the fixture but I didn’t really understand it until I stepped out there and it hit me in the face. A brilliant day and my favourite moment."

And on a potential milestone against Bournemouth, he added: "It would be a really proud moment, it’s the best decision of my life to come here and I haven’t looked back.

"Eighty to 85 per cent of it has been really good, on the whole it’s been fantastic and the best decision I’ve made.

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"I knew I was coming to an ambitious club and I knew they had aspirations to get to the Premier League, but to get there so quickly was brilliant. There’s a tinge of disappointment because of last year, I’d have liked to have sustained our status all my time here, but it wasn’t to be and we’ve got to try and get back there."

There may be sentiment on the south coast tomorrow for Baldock, but he is also conscious of the early-season importance of the fixture against the joint Championship leaders and says that United can lay down a marker with a victory.

He continued: "It’d be a statement, I don’t think they’ve lost and we’re under no illusions, it’ll be tough.

"They have a good manager and good players, but we know on our day we’re a match for anyone and we’ll be going down there looking to get three points.

"It’s not an easy division, people look at teams who come down to automatically go back up but teams have shown it can be harder than that. We’ll be alright, we need to keep going."

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