Early Sheffield United team news ahead of Hull City ft Andre Brooks update | OneFootball

FLW provides the latest team news ahead of the Blades' upcoming encounter at the MKM Stadium

Sheffield United travel to Hull City on Friday night looking to build on their unbeaten return to Championship life.

Despite the uncertainty that continues to cloud over Bramall Lane from a takeover point of view, Chris Wilder's side enjoyed an impressive summer transfer window, and although faced with a two-point deduction at the beginning of the season, the Blades have been unfazed by such developments on the pitch.

This will be the first contest between the two Yorkshire sides since a 1-0 win for United back in January 2023, courtesy of a first-half strike from Daniel Jebbison, and their last visit to the MKM Stadium also yielded three points through goals from Oli McBurnie and Sander Berge in September 2022.

Of course, the landscape of both clubs has changed drastically since those meetings, although the aims at the conclusion of the season and long-term for the two sides is to reach the Premier League once again, with Wilder's men beginning their own quest to do so in relatively impressive fashion as they sit in 8th place with six points to their name.

It's been two weeks since their 1-0 home success over Watford, and with Friday night's game in mind, Football League World rounds up the early team news from a Sheffield United persuasion.

With Friday night's encounter fast-approaching, Blades fans can be assured that at present, there are no long-term injury or unavailability doubts heading into this fixture.

In fact, the aforementioned Wilder and supporters travelling eastward for their first Yorkshire Derby of the campaign will be buoyed as a result of recent updates from the Sheffield Star, who revealed that "there could and should be a double boost" in terms of selection, with Femi Seriki and Andre Brooks set to return in time for the clash against Tim Walter's new-look Tigers.

Seriki sustained an injury in United's EFL Cup First Round success over Wrexham on August 13th, which saw him replaced by Chelsea loanee Alfie Gilchrist just 19 minutes into the encounter, with Wilder revealing afterwards that his absence wouldn't be on a long-term timescale.

Despite missing the subsequent outings against Queens Park Rangers, Norwich City, Barnsley and Watford, Seriki will reportedly be available for selection against Hull after making a solitary substitute appearance in the Championship so far.

After continuing to showcase his raw ability in the first three games of the season, which included an assist for United's opening goal of the campaign through Ollie Arblaster at Preston North End on August 9th, Andre Brooks missed the most-recent success over Watford at Bramall Lane as a result of concussion protocols.

The winger suffered a blow to the head in the EFL Cup encounter at Oakwell, and uncertainty had clouded his potential availability for the forthcoming trip to the MKM Stadium, as concussion rules meant Brooks has undergone an absence period of 12 days, before the latest update from the Star revealed that he "should" return to action on Friday, which would be a big boost to Wilder's squad and provide strong competition for places alongside Jesurun Rak-Sakyi.

"Brooksy has been outstanding, and it's a massive boost that he’s back," the Blades boss stated in his pre-match press conference.

However, captain Ollie Arblaster withdrew from the England Elite League squad on September 3rd after sustaining an injury, but the aforementioned Wilder held his cards close to his chest when referencing those who had been away with their respective countries.

“We’ve got a few doubts amongst the group but I’m not going to give anything away and we’ll do all we can to get the boys who are doubts ready for Friday night. Harry (Souttar) has come back; he’s used to that process of travelling away with Australia, he was fine about it. He was desperate to play, so he's okay," he said.

"The other boys have been involved, Kieffer (Moore) and Adam Davies in the Wales squad and Ryan One was with the U20s. There are doubts and little bits and pieces but I’m for players going away and playing for their countries. And hopefully we’ll have a full complement to pick from for a tough game on Friday night.”

Sheffield United could have the edge over Hull City

United's start to the season in comparison to their opponents has made them the favourites for the encounter, although Hull will be extremely desperate to see Tim Walter earn his first victory in charge on home turf, something which United's players must be wary about in the back of their minds.

The Tigers also have the availability of late-window signings to call upon in this encounter, such as Carl Rushworth, Mohamed Belloumi and Abu Kamara, whilst the likes of Gustavo Puerta and Charlie Hughes could also feature for the first time.

Kasey Palmer and Liam Millar's availability will also be assessed after the duo featured for Jamaica and Canada throughout the international window.

However, Wilder's side may just have the edge in what is set to be a pulsating encounter in East Yorkshire, having already had a start filled with consistency, continuity and quality.