Wilson happy to be patient with Blades teenager

The 17-year-old Chesterfield-born striker made his Football League debut in last Saturday’s 3-0 win over Colchester United, coming on as a late substitute and offering a brief glimpse of his potential by creating the third and final goal for striker partner Dave Kitson.

De Girolamo’s only previous first-team involvement had come in a Johnstone’s Paint Trophy tie against Coventry City, but his potential is obvious and the striker was involved in a tug-of-war between Italy and England over his international future.

After a plea from Arrigo Saachi, the legendary former AC Milan coach, the teenager opted for Italy – he qualifies as his father was born in Naples – and has made five appearances for the Under-18s, netting two goals.

Club manager Wilson rates the teenager – who has come through the Bramall Lane ranks from the age of seven – but hopes he can slowly introduce De Girolamo to the rigours of league football.

Wilson employed De Girolamo late on against Colchester, with the Blades cruising at 2-0, and the striker nearly capped his cameo off with a goal. Visiting goalkeeper Sam Walker managed to parry his shot, with Kitson pouncing on the rebound.

“He will be disappointed he didn’t score himself, quite honestly, you saw his disappointment when he put his hands on his head when the goalkeeper saved it, thankfully Dave Kitson was there to finish it off,” said Wilson.

“He can do that, get himself in those positions. Whether he would do that from the start at this point of his career, I am not too sure yet, but it’s nice to be able to blood him in and give him a few minutes on the pitch at this level. It’s a big, big difference to what he is used to.

“The second goal from Kevin (McDonald) settled us down,” said Wilson. “I never felt for one minute that they would get back into the game. Even at 1-0 I didn’t think they would score.

“So we just felt that was the right time to do it, in front of the home fans – we knew he would get a good reception – and it was a big lift for the player as well.

“In an ideal world this season will be just doing what we have been doing, getting him minutes on the pitch and getting used to the pace, strength and physicallity of the division.

“That’s in an ideal world, but we are not in an ideal world and he could be thrown in at any given time, you never know.

“We will just wait and see. Towards the end of the season, he could even start a game if things go well.”

De Girolama is highly rated, not just in England, but in Europe too and Wilson believes the Blades’ experience in bringing through young talent from their Academy over the years will help the striker’s education.

“I think everybody knows about him,” said Wilson. “Playing for the young Italian side, his profile has gone out of the stratosphere at times.

“But it’s nothing different to what we have had to contend with, with young players before.”

De Girolamo is likely to be back on the bench tomorrow for United’s tough trip to promotion rivals Bournemouth, looking to build on three wins in a week which have seen them kickstart their campaign after a mid-season wobble.

The Blades head to second-placed Bournemouth one point and three places off the summit and with 14 games remaining, Wilson knows consistency between now and May is key to their aspirations of returning to the Championship.

“We have seen this season that teams have been a bit up and down and ultimately it will come down to consistency,” he said.

“The league table can change from game to game and as we saw to our benefit last week – three wins on the bounce can make a huge difference to your perspective.

“Nothing has changed in our beliefs, we knew from day one that we would have to be equipped to go the distance and you have to stay level headed from one result to the next.

“We knew throughout January we needed to up our performances and thankfully we have responded positively.

“The lines in this division are so fine, we knew there wasn’t too much wrong, but ultimately when results aren’t going right supporters get frustrated and rightly so,” he added.