"He was devastated" - Chris Wilder opens up on Ollie Arblaster situation at Sheffield United | OneFootball

The Blades' captain missed the second half of the match after injuring his knee.

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder has revealed that a "devastated" Ollie Arblaster had to be dragged off at half-time of the Steel City derby after injuring his knee.

Until at least March, the bragging rights in Sheffield have gone to those of a red and white persuasion. In a game with few clear-cut chances, and only one shot on target all game, only one effective effort from Tyrese Campbell was needed to separate the two sides and hand United all three points.

The victory took the Blades level on points with league leaders Sunderland, and it's fair to say that Wilder and others made sure to celebrate the day as much as they could.

As you'd expect with any derby, a few crunching challenges went in. Harrison Burrows copped the most notable one from Sheffield Wednesday captain Barry Bannan, which caused a lot of pushing and shoving between the two sets of players in the aftermath.

Despite the typical rough nature of the contest, it wasn't a piece of foul play that did for the Blades' captain. Arblaster landed awkwardly on his leg, and seemingly jarred his knee, in the first-half, but continued playing until the break, in which he was subbed off.

Chris Wilder on Ollie Arblaster's injury

Wilder said after his side's win that he wasn't sure about the extent of Arblaster's injury, and that, regardless of how much pain he was in, the 20-year-old skipper, who was getting his first taste of playing in the Steel City derby, did not want to be subbed.

"I thought Sydie (Peck) gave us bite and legs. Femi (Seriki) was a tactical decision, we never got around that side quickly enough. They press with a three at the top, really aggressive.

"Harrison Burrows played too high first half but we tried to turn that around. I thought Femi's introduction showed we wanted to win it. We were bold in our subs. We had to make one with Sydie for Blaster but Femi gave us that drive and that energy, his 1st run he had a go at Max Lowe.

"You never know what they're going to do, decision-making, but to a man they made decent decisions and the reason we got that win."

There's just less than two weeks before United's next fixture, against Coventry City. Arblaster was potentially going to be involved with England's under-20s, but this knock makes that scenario much less likely.

"I really don't know," claimed Wilder, on the extent of the 20-year-old's injury. "I don't think it is (serious). I think he fell heavily on the astroturf part of the grass and jolted his knee. We'll get it scanned and hopefully, fingers crossed, he'll be okay for Coventry."

Sheffield United should be encouraged by Ollie Arblaster's perseverance

The local lad, who had family members in the away end at Bramall Lane on Sunday, was obviously going to do all that he could to stay on the pitch. His initial reaction to the pain he was going through suggested that an early change would need to be made, but he got through until the half-time whistle.

That may have been him biting down on his gumshield and toughing it out. Even if it was, it'll be encouraging for the Blades that he could continue for the rest of the time in the half.