This Week's Opposition: Sheffield United

Portsmouth's next opponent in the Championship are put under the microscope by Express FM's Kirsty Roxanne.

The Blues remain 23rd in the table after a 94th minute winner for Burnley last weekend resulted in Pompey’s 3rd consecutive defeat.

The toughest of starts to life back in the Championship has seen John Mousinho’s side having already faced 5 out of the top 6 teams in the table at this stage of the campaign, with number 6 just round the corner.

Next up, we welcome Sheffield United to PO4 for the first time since 2013.

MANAGER

Former right-back Chris Wilder is in the dugout for The Blades.

Wilder’s extensive professional playing career saw spells at Sheffield United, Rotherham United, Notts County, Bradford City, Brighton & Hove Albion and Halifax Town. He also had loan spells at 5 different clubs.

After retiring, he became a manager, with his first stint at Alfreton Town.

Wilder also managed Halifax Town and was their last manager before liquidation hit the club. He won promotion from the Conference Premier with Oxford United via the Play-Offs in 2010 and at Northampton Town he crowned the team League Two champions in 2016. He has also since managed Middlesbrough and Watford.

In May 2016, Wilder joined his boyhood club Sheffield United on a 3-year contract and in his first season, despite being bottom of League One after 4 games, the club pushed on to become League One Champions - They secured 100 points in the process, setting a club record.

Wilder also led the Blades to the Premier League in 2019 and this ensured his second promotion in just 3 years at Bramall Lane. The achievement earned him the LMA Manager of the Year award.

Wilder signed a new 3-year contract with the club and 6 months after that he signed a further 4-year contract extension. Sheffield United went on to finish 9th in their first season back in the top flight, their best since 1991/92.

After Paul Heckingbottom was dismissed, Wilder was brought back as his replacement. Sheffield United were relegated back to the Championship last season following a 5-1 defeat to Newcastle United.

ONE TO WATCH

Our one to watch out for is number 10, Callum O’Hare.

O’Hare is a product of the Aston Villa Academy, spending 15 years at the club. He made his league debut for the club as a substitute in a 3-0 loss at Cardiff City in the Championship.

He enjoyed loan spells at Carlisle United and Coventry City and following his release from Villa, O’Hare signed permanently for Coventry in July 2020 on a 3-year deal. He scored his first Championship goal in Coventry's 3-1 victory over QPR, their first league win of that season.

The 26-year-old was stretchered off just 10 minutes into a 3-1 defeat to Sheffield United in December 2022 - It was later confirmed that O’Hare had suffered an ACL injury which would rule him out for 9 months.

In July of this year, Coventry announced that O’Hare had left the club following refusal to sign a new contract after his contract expired at the end of June.

O’Hare joined Sheffield United on a 4-year deal this summer. The attacking midfielder has 2 assists to his name so far this campaign.

TOP SCORER

Current top goalscorer is midfielder Gustavo Hamer.

Hamer began his career with Dutch side Feyenoord where he progressed through the youth system. He only made 2 appearances for the first team before being loaned out to FC Dordrecht for the 2017/18 season.

Harmer joined PEC Zwolle in 2018 signing a 3-year contract with the club, he made 48 appearances and scored 4 goals.

In July 2020, he made the move to Coventry City. After returning from a straight red card and a 3-match suspension, he went on to score his first goal for the club against Reading.

Hamer scored the winning goal in the second leg of the Championship Play-Off Semi-Final against Middlesbrough to set up a clash with Luton Town for the right to play in the Premier League. He scored the equalising goal to make the score 1-1 before being defeated on penalties. 

In August 2023, Hamer signed a 4-year deal with recently promoted Sheffield United and in his first season, he scored 4 goals and 6 assists.

This campaign, the number 8 already has 4 goals and 1 assist.

CURRENT FORM

The Blades are currently unbeaten this season and occupy 5th in the table. The side have accumulated 11 points from their last 5 games, which have produced 3 victories and 2 draws.

Their most recent game was a 1-0 victory over newly-promoted side Derby County. A Gus Hamer free kick enabled the side to gather all 3 points.

At the start of this campaign, Wilder’s side were deducted 2 points after it was found that United had failed to pay the full sum of a certain agreement for a player in an historic transfer dealing.

The last time these sides met was back in 2013, when the Blues were victorious at PO4 with a 3-0 victory in League One.

Can the Blues finally get their first win of the season?

Tune in for all of the unmissable action this Saturday (September 28th) afternoon from 2pm, where Jake Smith, Kirsty Roxanne and James Wilson will be on hand at Fratton Park to provide full pre-match build-up, half-time analysis and post-game reaction.

Kick-off: 3pm!