5 days Ago
Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Star, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Sheffield United starlet Sydie Peck enhanced his growing reputation further with a stunning display on England duty recently, with boss Chris Wilder insistent that the experience of last weekend’s Steel City derby against Wednesday will only help him. Peck, 20, has taken advantage of a lack of depth in United’s midfield to press his case this season, coming off the bench in victory over the Owls at Bramall Lane.
Peck impressed Unitedites with his trademark commitment in the tackle but also showcased the other side of his game with a mazy run late on, which saw him beat a couple of opponents before being upended. A young man with tremendous belief in his own ability, Peck then went on to register a goal and three assists for England’s Elite squad - formerly the U20 level - against Germany at Chesterfield , after being called up to replace injured Blades teammate Oliver Arblaster. Advertisement Advertisement Spot a Unitedite you know in bumper fan gallery from season so far The little-known Unitedite helping shape Borussia Dortmund's fortunes How the 31 Sheffield United players who left this summer are doing That display, in a 4-0 win which also saw former academy teammate Will Lankshear, now of Spurs, on target, will have only boosted Peck’s belief ahead of this Saturday’s Championship return against Coventry City .
Despite his ability and youthful enthusiasm, however, there is still more to come from Peck as he develops with further first-team experience, with Wilder pointing to the experience of that ambitious run against the Owls with the game delicately poised at 1-0 to the Blades, as one example. Advertisement Advertisement United finished the derby with three academy players on the pitch, in Peck, Femi Seriki and 18-year-old Ryan One, plus a number of other young players experiencing their first real taste of a cauldron-like Bramall Lane atmosphere. "They've not really been in these positions before,” said boss Wilder.
“So when Sydie goes on a mazy late on and thinks he's Pele in Escape to Victory, who goes from one end to the other and tries to slalom everybody, you think: ‘Just pass it, and make good decisions.’ But they'll learn from that. “Look at Harrison Burrows; first time in a Sheffield derby.
Michael Cooper; first time in a Sheffield derby. Jez [Rak-Sakyi] has never played in a game like that before, or Alfie [Gilchrist]. Even Blaster’s never played in a game like that before.
You look towards them and at those players, even though they've not come through our academy, they’ll get better through that experience. “I'd rather they be up for it and on it, than being horizontal and ‘It’s just another game.’ We have to adjust that and accept that they might be a little bit tight and might not be on top of their game.
But that experience - the scenes at the end, the feeling at the end from everybody, four wins on the spin...
and a win in a highly-anticipated emotional, evenly-contested game - is brilliant for them.” Rak-Sakyi, meanwhile, made his England U21 debut as a second-half substitute as the young lions held Spain to a goalless draw in Cadiz late last week, alongside former Blades loanee James McAtee and Wednesday goalkeeper James Beadle..
