Blades Boss Details Personnel Worries As Sheffield United Head Down South to Face Saints | OneFootball

Sheffield United head to the south coast on Wednesday evening to take on an out-of-form Southampton side at St Mary’s.

The Saints come into the game on the back of a 2-1 defeat at home to Hull City last weekend, a result that further underlined their struggles for consistency. Victory has been hard to come by in recent weeks, with their last three points coming back in early December. Despite flashes of quality, Southampton have found it difficult to turn performances into results, and the pressure is beginning to build on the south coast.

United, meanwhile, travel south following a narrow 1-0 defeat away at Charlton Athletic on Saturday, but the scoreline told only a fraction of the story. Reduced to nine men for a large portion of the contest, the Blades produced a performance full of resilience and organisation that drew widespread praise.

Prior to the first red card, Chris Wilder’s side looked good value for all three points, creating several clear opportunities that were denied only by a series of outstanding saves from the Addicks’ goalkeeper in the first half.

That spirit and togetherness will again be required on Wednesday evening, as United’s squad has been stretched by a combination of suspensions, injuries and illness. Japhet Tanganga and Djibril Soumare both begin three-match suspensions following their dismissals at The Valley, while Jairo Riedewald is expected to be sidelined for a couple of weeks with a hamstring injury after missing the Charlton game.

Sheffield United Dealing With Several Personnel Issues

LONDON, ENGLAND – JANUARY 17: Japhet Tanganga of Sheffield United interacts with Referee Oliver Langford after teammate El Hadji Djibril Soumare (not pictured) is shown a red following a challenge on Harvey Knibbs of Charlton Athletic (not pictured) during the Sky Bet Championship match between Charlton Athletic and Sheffield United at The Valley on January 17, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by James Fearn/Getty Images)

Wilder revealed the frustration surrounding Riedewald’s injury, which occurred at the worst possible moment. “He’s going to be out for a couple of weeks,” the United boss explained in his pre-match press conference. “It capped off a strange 48 hours before the Charlton game. Everyone was fit and raring to go, the team was selected and we’d gone through all the preparations on the back of two outstanding performances.

“Jairo has been a really big part of where we have got to and the last action of a small-sided game on matchday minus one, he’s stretched to keep a ball in, back-heeled it and then gone down. It was a big blow, especially knowing the game we were playing and the situation with Oliver Arblaster, Sydie Peck and Tom Davies.”

Peck did return to the matchday squad at the weekend, though Wilder admitted it was not an ideal situation. “We had to push Sydie through which wasn’t ideal,” he said. “We’d have liked to have got Tom on the pitch too.”

United are also monitoring Tyler Bindon, whose availability remains unclear after the New Zealander was forced off at half-time against Charlton due to illness. His absence would be another blow, particularly given his promising partnership with Tanganga before the latter’s dismissal. “Tyler wasn’t well over the weekend,” Wilder added. “It didn’t look like it because he was outstanding in a blossoming partnership with Japh. They were dominant for the first 30-35 minutes.”

Further concerns remain over Sam McCallum, with Wilder confirming the defender is a doubt. “He’s potentially out for Wednesday,” he said. “We’ll have to see how he is and how he’s recovered from the challenge in the Charlton game.”

Southampton’s own team news centres on Shea Charles, with the highly-rated midfielder still sidelined by a hamstring problem that has kept him out since October, although a return is expected in the coming weeks.

Wilder Gives New Signings Time Frame

Despite the mounting issues, Wilder remains encouraged by the competition within his squad. “Competition for places is intense,” he said. “There are no gimmies because of what you might have done last season or somewhere else. This is a team playing well at the moment and those playing deserve to be.”

Wilder also stated regarding new signings, “It’s going to be a struggle for Wednesday now but we’re working away towards the weekend.”

Whilst the Blades are eyeing up some key additions to bolster the squad, it is being reported by transfer expert Fabrizio Romano that talented Blades defender Nils Zatterstrom could be on his way to Genoa on loan for the rest of the season with an option to buy.

Zatterstrom signed from Malmo in the summer and hasn’t made a single appearance for United, and only featured on the bench three times.