Sheffield United v Brighton and Hove Albion: Chris Wilder hopes 'harrowing experience' is making of next generation

With Sheffield United's immediate future looking pretty clear, it is vital the likes of Andre Brooks and Will Osula learn from this month so they can spearhead the fightback that has to follow.

Brooks and Osula have been figureheads of Wilder's second spell as manager, their youthful exuberance bringing something to a squad ground down towards the end of Paul Heckingbottom's reign.

Along with defender Auston Trusty – older, at 25, but still with only 60 English league starts – they took a back seat at Luton and saw a more grizzled side eke out a 3-1 win, the Blades' first away from home in this season's Premier League.

As Sunday's visitors, Brighton and Hove Albion, play a very different style of football to the Hatters, it could be the young trio are needed but if not this weekend, they will be in the future.

With relegation still probable even after Kenilworth Road, Wilder's Bramall Lane return has been a rebuilding job to ensure the club bounce back after a summer when the majority of the first-team squad are out of contract.

For that to happen, Brooks, Osula, Trusty and others will have to show they have taken on board the lessons of a topsy-turvy February which started with a 5-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa before the response against Luton.

"There'll not be an incredible amount of changes, we have to get the consistency," says Wilder of his weekend team selection. "The attitude was a lot better (than against Villa), it wasn't on the kids.

"It was a harrowing experience for me and our supporters so the kids must have thought what the hell was going off there in that 30 minutes of football that changed the dynamic completely (as the Blades went 4-0 down in the first half).

"They'll have to suffer that experience as well, they were a part of it and they'll learn from that but the kids have been great, it's really impressed me the work that's going into the academy.

"One or two will be a part of it going forward, not just them but (Oliver) Arblaster and Jebbo (Daniel Jebbison)."

Much as nobody wants them, "harrowing experiences" can be the making – or breaking – of a young professional footballer.

"I can talk all afternoon about what happened against Villa but for the young boys, watching the reaction of the seniors in training, that's a great experience," says Wilder.

"They watched the game (as unused substitutes) and were embroiled in it, they're not just sat on their phones for 95 minutes at Luton. They knew what we were trying to do and the feel of the week just as much as the game, the messages from me and the other players and what we needed to do.

"It was a great experience for them being involved in it and making them better players. It isn't always about technically or tactically what you do, physically and the mentality of everything is a huge part of being a pro at the highest level."

In his first spell, Wilder built a formidable core of players who led the team to ninth in the 2019-20 Premier League. Many were still the driving force behind last season's promotion back to the top flight – too many, as events since have highlighted.

Football clubs need to constantly evolve and the penny-pinching of recent years stopped that happening as it needed to, but it will be on fast-forward this summer.

"We're looking now at what's the next step and the next boys to take it forward," says Wilder. "Who are the next carriers?

"I'm delighted we have two or three young boys who understand what it's like to play for us but there needs to be that next group who will take us forward. The (experienced) boys are not going to last forever and I'm looking forward to those (younger) boys picking up the baton and running with it."

Not that the old guard are completely finished yet, even if – like captain John Egan – they are unable to take to the field through injury.

"He made his own way down to Luton, I've said he needs to be more visible," reveals Wilder. "He has been around the place.

"Sometimes players don't want to get involved but they're culture carriers, Egan, (George) Baldock, (Chris) Basham, (Oli) McBurnie – they know what is expected at the football club.

"John has a hell of a lot of football left in him and hopefully he regains fitness. He's not a soft boy, he's not one you have concerns about mentally. He'll fight thorough the issues and have a part to play.”

Sunday could bring a Premier League debut for Oliver Arblaster, recovered from the injury which brought his loan at Port Vale this season to an early conclusion.

“Oliver will be involved at the weekend," confirms Wilder.

“I had two or three Championship clubs in for him to take Oliver on loan but we want him around us.

“We had a little bit of a setback with his injury at Port Vale, but he’s worked to get himself back and has played a couple of games. He was involved in an Under-21 game on Tuesday night for 60 minutes. He'll definitely make his debut sooner rather than later.”