Sheffield United take on Derby County later today in what will be United’s third friendly of the week, and their fifth overall. So far, the Blades haven’t produced positive pre-season results, winning just one of their four matches. But, nobody should read much into that due to the lineups being mixed between first-team players and youth prospects.
This game will be Derby County’s final test before their opening League One match against Wigan Athletic. The Rams manager Paul Warne has stated to the press that he expects Sheffield United to field a strong team later today:
“It will be a tough game. They have had a few friendlies this week to spread the minutes across their squad and I expect them to come here and go pretty strong against us.
“I know they will come all guns blazing and it will be a really good test for us. It’s important to add another layer to what we’re doing and get more understanding into the players of how we want to go about things.” [Derby County]
United will have one more pre-season game after today, which will be against tough Bundesliga 1 opposition Stuttgart. That game will be played at Bramall Lane ahead of the Blades opening Premier League fixture, Crystal Palace.
