100% aerial duels won: The Sheffield United man staking his claim to be a regular starter despite January addition | OneFootball

Sheffield United were unable to grab all three points against Huddersfield Town yesterday as they made the short trip to the John Smith’s Stadium, potentially a setback in their quest to win a top-six place.

Perhaps an away win shouldn’t have been seen as a likelihood considering the Terriers are a completely different beast to what they were last season, finishing 20th at the end of the 2020/21 campaign but establishing themselves as genuine play-off contenders in recent months.

It was a game where both defences certainly came out on top, summing up how solid the Blades have been defensively under the stewardship of Paul Heckingbottom having only conceded once in their past four league ties coming into this Yorkshire derby.

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Ched Evans?

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John Egan and Chris Basham have been at the heart of that – but another man in Jack Robinson also deserves a lot of credit for his contributions in recent months.

Stepping in well for Ben Davies at Fulham, this has set the tone for a string of exceptional performances from the 28-year-old who is currently doing well to keep January loan signing Charlie Goode out of the starting lineup at this stage.

Coming in from Brentford and making six Premier League appearances this term, he was expected to overtake Robinson in the pecking order at some point alongside already established starters Egan and Basham, the former having been one of the first names on the teamsheet from the very start of the campaign.

Robinson winning 100% of his four aerial duels isn’t exactly going to benefit Goode’s starting prospects, nor is the fact the former won 69% of his duels in total.

In isolation, that may not seem like the most impressive total. But considering he has averaged 7% less than that during the 2021/22 campaign as a whole, it just reinforces how he’s getting better and better, stepping up to the plate at a perfect time in a Yorkshire derby.

His ability to turn the ball over and stifle Huddersfield’s attacking threat was also impressive – and exceeded his 2021/22 averages once again in the clearances and interceptions department – recording seven and eight respectively.

He may not get the credit the likes of Morgan Gibbs-White and Billy Sharp do – but his solidity has provided the foundation for their attackers to build on and they will only continue to climb the table if they can remain watertight in the backline.

With the combined experience and expertise of Robinson, Egan and Basham, you would certainly back them to do that and they now have a bit of added depth with Davies and Goode.