Sheffield United starlet backed to improve after "harsh" Chris Wilder verdict on Premier League debut

Sam Curtis, the latest teenager to make a Sheffield United debut in the Premier League this season, has been backed to improve further after manager Chris Wilder’s “harsh” verdict on his performance at Everton on Saturday. The 18-year-old, who signed for United in January after leaving St. Pat’s in Ireland, made his English top-flight bow as a second-half substitute ust months after leaving the League of Ireland.

It was, as Wilder pointed out, not the most accomplished of debuts as he wasted a good crossing chance by miscuing his effort high over Jordan Pickford’s goal. But there were other promising signs, including a crunching tackle on Joe Garner, with former Chesterfield striker Eoin Doyle - an ex-teammate of Curtis’ at St. Pat’s - labelling Wilder’s comments as “harsh”.

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"He's a great kid, fully, fully focused on football. He's constantly looking for information and constantly looking for feedback on how he'd done," said Doyle on the RTÉ Soccer Podcast. "Not only to the coaches ... he'd ask the senior pros after matches how we thought he'd done in games, so he's constantly trying to improve himself.

"The best thing I found about Sam was that if he makes a mistake, he never makes it twice. So he could make a mistake and then 10 games later, the same opportunity would happen and he wouldn't make the same mistake again. He really learns on the job and he's very, very good at that.”

"Regarding the comments from Wilder, they're probably a little bit harsh for an 18-year-old making his debut in the Premier League,” Doyle added. “But I'd imagine knowing Wilder that I'd say he's just trying to keep Sam grounded.

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"At the end of the day, he has just made his Premier League debut at the age of 18 and that can be a bit of a tough thing for young lads and I'd imagine it's one of those; it's a well done but: ‘Listen, this is the start of it now, let's not get carried away.'

"I'm delighted for him. He deserves everything because he's fully committed, he gives absolutely everything to be a better player and, please god, next year he gets a good run in the team."