Millwall v Sheffield United: What Blades No.2 said on Chris Basham injury, Millwall and automatic promotion thoughts

Paul Heckingbottom’s Blades travel to London boosted by their late victory over Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday evening, which further strengthened their promotion credentials.

But they will go south with a number of injury concerns, with Chris Basham joining teammates Rhian Brewster, David McGoldrick and Jayden Bogle in the treatment room.

Here’s a round-up of the key themes to emerge from McCall’s press briefing…

Sheffield United update on Chris Basham’s injury

The influential defender missed out against Blackburn with a knee ligament issue, and McCall expects him to miss at least a couple of weeks.

Charlie Goode, Basham’s replacement, is also suspended after being sent off against Rovers.

“We don’t want to put a timescale on it but it’s at least a couple of weeks, we think,” McCall said.

“It’s a problem. We have people who can come in and step in and we’re happy with the opportunity to give to someone else, but it’s about taking that opportunity.

Blades boss on recruitment and personality

“It’s not ideal for Bash to be out and Charlie to pick up his red card, but we’ve had to deal with things and we’ll just crack on.

“It'll be someone who’s been in the first-team squad [who replaces Basham and Goode] but we’ve taken a few young lads down, the Fridays have been boring and we need a couple of singers at the hotel!

“There’ll be a couple of young lads travel with us, we’ve gone over the side and we’re happy with it.”

Stuart McCall on Millwall

The Lions have won their last three games, against Cardiff, United’s play-off rivals QPR and Derby.

“They’re on a good run,” McCall admitted. “They’ve had a couple of injuries so they may not freshen it up as much as they’d liked but winning three on the bounce gives you momentum.

“The crowd get behind them, although our fans will make some noise too. It’ll have an edge to it, two sides in form and it’s a big park. If you look after the ball and move it well, we’re confident. But we’ll have to be at it, like every other game in this league.

The big challenge now facing 'brilliant' Berge

“I was speaking to Hecky about the song to get the fans going, like we get ours with the greasy chip butty.

“It’s about taking the sting out of it, getting on the ball. We’ve only got one thought in our mind. A positive front-foot performance is what we’re after and we want to come back with three points.”

McCall on Sheffield United’s automatic promotion chances

The former Scotland international admits he’s not currently thinking about the Blades gatecrashing the top two.

They are five points being second-placed Bournemouth currently, with the Cherries having two games in hand on Heckingbottom’s men.

Hecky's warning about the promotion race

“Not for me, to be honest,” said McCall when asked about if he’d entertained thoughts of the top two.

“We’ve got 14 games left. I know it’s boring but we’re looking at the next game. You’ve got to be humble. We’ve got momentum but it’s not about where you are now, it’s about the end of the season.

“We said we want to be in and around it when we came in, and I understand the supporters are excited. But we’re only looking at the next game.”

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