Humble Auston Trusty a rare chink of light in Sheffield United’s Premier League struggle

Auston Trusty’s impressive debut away at Fulham last weekend was one of the few high-points of what has been a frustrating season for Sheffield United so far. A 3-1 defeat at Craven Cottage, despite Trusty looking comfortable on the left and then in the middle of defence, was their seventh in eight games so far and left them bottom of the top-flight table.

But in the performance of the American international in London offered some light among the gloom that has enveloped Bramall Lane going into the current international break. Trusty, given his chance in the absence of skipper John Egan but preferred to Jack Robinson on the left of defence, eventually shifted to the centre after Chris Basham’s horror injury and was by some way United’s most accomplished performer on his long-awaited full Premier League debut.

There was an early block to prevent Bobby Reid opening the scoring, showing good defensive instincts to get across into the right area and get his body in the way of the effort, and many examples of the athleticism that first of all persuaded Paul Heckingbottom to make him the most expensive defender in United’s history - albeit for a £5m fee that won’t have raised many eyebrows beyond South Yorkshire - and then make a big call to throw him in ahead of Robinson.

Speaking not long after a defeat marred by the horror injury to friend and teammate Basham, it was difficult for Trusty to fully appreciate the enormity of his full debut in the biggest league in the world; a moment he has dreamed about since he was a young boy in the States, kicking a ball about with his siblings - a long way from the English top-flight, in both a metaphorical and literal sense.

United legend Basham details his next steps after operations on horror injury

“It’s hard to think about that after a loss but in the grand scheme of things, besides the loss, I’m truly just honoured,” said Trusty, a humble and refreshingly-honest interviewee. “Before the game I was almost getting emotional, thinking about this opportunity. It’s a long way from growing up in Pennsylvania, dribbling around my house and having to bribe my brother to play soccer with me. I had to play lacrosse with him in return.

“It’s been a long journey and a long road and get to my opportunity to start in the Premier League and words can’t really describe it. I’m truly, truly blessed. Every footballer has people who believe in them and also people who don’t and on my side I had a lot of people who didn’t believe in me, other than the people who do. To share it with them, it means the most and I was texting them before the game to say thank you and say: ‘Who would have thought?’ Except for us’.”

Trusty admitted he also had his fair share of doubters, too, who have provided motivation of a different kind. He will have ample opportunity to continue proving his doubters wrong with an extended spell in the United side, as Egan and Basham face lengthy spells on the sidelines and boss Heckingbottom plots how to turn around his side’s season with just three senior centre-halves in Trusty, Robinson and Anel Ahmedhodzic.