Sheffield United are now momentarily top of the Championship table – ahead of Leeds United’s clash with Sunderland tonight – after a tough away trip to Luton Town on the weekend ended in a precious 1-0 win.
The Hatters would boast more shots come the full-time whistle, but Chris Wilder‘s men still managed to pick up a gritty result on the road all the same to keep up their four-game winning streak in the league for February.
Whilst the 57-year-old would have been delighted with the final score seeing his side rise to the top of the second-tier tree, he will be slightly worried about the injury status of Tom Cannon who was nowhere to be seen at Kenilworth Road.
The latest on Tom Cannon’s injury
Alongside Gustavo Hamer and Kieffer Moore – who also weren’t risked in Hertfordshire – the former Leicester City striker’s rolled ankle he picked up versus Middlesbrough saw him be ruled out of the contest.
Thankfully, as Wilder revealed following the winner over the Hatters, the trio – including the new £10m addition – are set to be involved for next week’s pivotal clash with Leeds:
“All three will be available for next week,” Wilder said. “I was never in the mindframe of risking Gus today because of his fatigue in his hamstring and with Tom we just didn’t have enough time.
“If the game was 48 hours later and we were playing Monday or Tuesday then he’d have been fit but we made a decision on that.”
Focusing in on Cannon, that weighty £10m price tag has been getting the better of him somewhat when he has pulled on his new strip, with the one-time Everton man still goalless in South Yorkshire from four outings, despite firing home an impressive nine strikes when on the books of loan side Stoke City.
Wilder and Co will pray that Cannon comes good at Bramall Lane when shaking off his injury issues, but there is one ace in his ranks that is staggeringly worth even more than the attacker’s £10m valuation…
The Sheff Utd hero now worth more than Cannon
It’s not as if United lacked firepower up top heading into their trip to face Matt Bloomfield’s lowly hosts, with fellow new recruit Ben Brereton Diaz lining up in attack, alongside Tyrese Campbell who has six goals himself in Championship action this season.
Neither Campbell nor Brereton Diaz would break the deadlock, however, as centre-back brute Anel Ahmedhodzic took over goalscoring duties away from others firing blanks to steer his team to a big three points.
It was quite the accomplished finish from the confident Bosnian late on, who managed to score in his side’s last home outing too, taking his overall goal tally for the second tier side up to 11 strikes from 98 clashes.
The decision to bring Ahmedhodzic into the building for a modest £5.15m continues to look like a masterstroke, therefore, with his continued excellence for the Blades helping in their mission to make an instant return to the Premier League happen, alongside also boosting his valuation way above his 2022 fee.
|
Ahmedhodzic’s numbers this season |
|
|---|---|
|
Stat – per 90 mins* |
Ahmedhodzic |
|
League games played |
26 |
|
Goals scored |
2 |
|
Assists |
1 |
|
Touches* |
61.8 |
|
Accurate passes* |
45.3 (91%) |
|
Ball recoveries* |
3.6 |
|
Clearances* |
5.0 |
|
Total duels won* |
4.0 |
|
Clean sheets |
12 |
|
New value |
£15m |
|
Stats by Sofascore/Transfermarkt |
|
Away from being a notable goal threat, the ex-Malmo man has also impressively collected 12 clean sheets this campaign to play his part in his confident team being table-toppers, leading to his value reaching a far heftier £15m.
That is £5m more than Cannon’s own bumped up value, with United no doubt worrying down the line that a higher-up poacher will be tempted to fork out around this £15m mark to land the “elite” defender, as he has been labelled by football analyst Ben Mattinson in the past.
Until that moment arrives, however, the 6 foot 5 centre-back’s main aim will be to put in more top-drawer displays to see his team taste automatic promotion, alongside Cannon potentially firing home some crucial strikes.
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