Sheffield United: Patrick Bamford injury truth revealed by Chris Wilder after West Brom incident | OneFootball

The Sheffield United striker has a history of being injury-prone, and his manager has issued update on his latest withdrawal from the Blades team.

Sheffield United striker Patrick Bamford had to be withdrawn at half-time during their 1-1 draw with West Bromwich Albion, but Chris Wilder had an encouraging update afterwards for Blades fans.

The first Saturday in March turned out to be a frustrating one for Blades fans. At home against struggling West Bromwich Albion, they could only manage a 1-1 draw which cast further doubt over their ability to launch a late challenge for a Championship play-off place, come the end of the season.

The game was goalless at half-time at Bramall Lane when Bamford left the pitch limping, and he didn't return for the second half of the match. An own goal eight minutes into the second half scored by West Brom's George Campbell gave the Blades the lead, but Campbell atoned for his earlier error by bringing Albion level with an equalising goal, scored seven minutes from time.

But Sheffield United fans concerned at Bamford not returning for the second half of this match received a message from Blades manager Chris Wilder after the end of the match about the striker's withdrawal, and the news isn't as bad as they might have feared.

Chris Wilder revelation on Patrick Bamford's injury - it isn't a severe one

Speaking after the match, the Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder addressed Patrick Bamford's withdrawal at half-time, and the news wasn't as bad as Blades fans might have feared.

As reported by the Sheffield Star, Wilder was asked by BBC Sheffield after the match whether Bamford's injury was serious: "No, I don’t think so; it’s just a dead leg", was his response.

"Him coming off obviously wasn’t good because he’s been outstanding for us."

The result left Wilder's team in 11th place in the table, still eight points behind sixth-placed Wrexham and now having played a game more.

Dropping two points in this game was clearly damaging for the Blades' chances of making a late push up the division towards the play-off places as the end of the season draws closer.

Their next match is at home against Norwich City on Wednesday night, with the opportunity to bridge that gap now looking increasingly slight.

Speaking of his team's inability to secure all three points against West Brom, Wilder said: "We didn’t find that quality at the top of the pitch. It’s top-end Championship football."

Patrick Bamford's injury record makes speculation when he does pick up a knock inevitable

It only takes the briefest of glances at Patrick Bamford's injury record to understand why there will have been concern at Bramall Lane after the striker failed to appear for the second half against West Bromwich Albion.

The former Middlesbrough and Leeds star has had a succession of issues over the last five seasons which have dramatically affected his availability.

But for all his injury woes, he remains a potent force up front, and Sheffield United have seen the benefit of this since he joined the club on a short-term contract in the middle of November. He was named EFL Championship Player of the Month for December after a blistering start for his new club, during which he scored four times in six matches.

And since then, while he's been unable to maintain that exceptional start, Bamford has been continuing to find the net for Sheffield United.

He's scored eight goals in 19 league appearances for the Blades so far, already making him their second-highest league goalscorer this season behind Callum O'Hare, despite the fact that O'Hare has made almost twice as many league appearances for the Blades so far this season as Bamford.

For all Patrick Bamford's injury issues in the past, he's been doing an excellent job in the Championship for Sheffield United this season. The Blades' atrocious start to the season always made even pushing for a play-off place a challenge by the time that Chris Wilder returned to the club following their disastrous decision to sack him at the end of last season and replace him with Ruben Selles.

But there's still a chance, and Bamford's goalscoring is one of their best routes to rescuing a season which started far worse than any Blades fan would have guessed when their team crashed to the bottom of the table in August under Selles.