Sheffield United are not expecting starlet Oliver Arblaster to return to fitness until at least the summer – even if Chris Wilder believes his fellow boyhood Blade would declare himself ready for Sunday’s derby against city rivals Wednesday if he had the chance. The 21-year-old has not featured since November’s derby victory over the Owls, which came at a cost with confirmation that the midfielder had ruptured a cruciate ligament in the game.

After going under the knife Arblaster then began the long recovery procedure and recently returned to the grass at United’s Shirecliffe training academy in the next tentative steps along the journey. That change of scenery will have done the Sheffield-born star the world of good from a mental point of view and came after a mid-season break was sanctioned.

 

But there was always very little chance of Arblaster returning before the end of the current campaign, despite advancements in recent years on treatment methods for such serious knee injuries. He will instead watch from the stands tomorrow as the Blades take on Bristol City at Bramall Lane, hoping to take some more positive momentum into Sunday’s trip to Hillsborough.

Asked if he could return this term, boss Wilder said: “No. But in his mind, yeah. He potentially wants to play Sunday, as you can imagine! But no, it’ll be next season. He’s got some hurdles to get over, he’s worked extremely hard and been diligent with his work.

“He’s chomping at the bit, as you can imagine, but he’s still got a third of the work to go through. He’s in a good place, we’ve just talked about him in a medical meeting and he’s out on the grass and working. But that’s a medium to long-term injury.

“So he’ll be looking to get back into pre-season. Whether it’s the first day, back in with the first-team, we’ll work on that. But he’s got a long summer ahead of him with a lot of work to get himself right for the new season. And for him to get back up to top speed and when we do we’ve still got a hell of a young player on our hands.”

 

In Arblaster’s absence, fellow youngster Sydie Peck has stepped up to the challenge and established himself as a real fans’ favourite. And with United well-placed in the promotion race – even a point against City will take them clear of Leeds at the top of the table, at least until Daniel Farke’s side return to action 24 hours later – it raises the tantalising possibility of two Blades-developed youngsters potentially partnering up in the Premier League sooner rather than later.

Speaking recently to Sky Sports, Arblaster said: “I feel like I’m going to come back stronger, 100 per cent. You’ve got to look at it really positively. I know it’s a big injury, and I’ve not had one of these before in my career.

 

“But it’s given me a bit of time to reflect, on where I’ve come from. I obviously don’t want it to happen but I know come the end of it that mentally I’ll be a lot stronger and my body will physically be a lot better too.”