Sheffield United star ruled-out of Newcastle United clash plus ‘question mark’ over ex-Man City man

Sheffield United will be without striker Oli McBurnie for the remainder of the season after he suffered a groin injury earlier this week. McBurnie missed their defeat to Manchester United on Wednesday night and Chris Wilder has confirmed the Scotland international will not feature again this season.

Speaking ahead of his side’s trip to St James’ Park, Wilder said: “Oli McBurnie is out for the season so that’s a massive blow for us. It goes alongside a lot of the [injury] situations we’ve had all season. 

“That’s a really disappointing one. He went to see a specialist, he doesn’t require surgery, but that’s the end of his season and it’s another big one to miss, especially from a leadership and experience point of view.”

Much like their opponents, Sheffield United also have an exhaustive injury list to deal with heading into the final few weeks of the season with eight players likely to miss most, if not all, of the remainder of the campaign. And their trip to face Manchester United in midweek not only ended with another defeat for the Blades, but also with a couple of fresh injury doubts.

Jayden Bogle was withdrawn through injury whilst James McAtee, who came on as a substitute during the game, was also then subsequently taken off after picking up a knock. Wilder provided a mixed update on the pair, confirming that Bogle was simply a precaution, whilst ‘question marks’ remain over McAtee’s involvement at St James’ Park: “Jayden was precautionary, but McAtee wasn’t.” Wilder admitted. 

“He went for a scan and we were waiting for the results this morning. Fingers crossed he's okay. We believe Jayden will be okay but there’s a question mark about McAtee, and it’s not good news about McBurnie.”

Newcastle United, meanwhile, also tasted defeat on Wednesday night as they were beaten 2-0 by Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. Eddie Howe has revealed that he will likely have a similar squad to pick from this weekend with some of his longer-term absences like Nick Pope, Miguel Almiron and Joelinton all edging closer to a return but unlikely to feature this weekend.