Wilder stresses belief in Brewster despite 16-game goal drought
Chris Wilder has given his backing to Rhian Brewster and expects an outpouring of emotion when Sheffield United’s record signing scores his first goal for the club.
Brewster has not found the net since his £23.5million move from Liverpool in October, with Saturday’s victory his 16th appearance for the club and offering his clearest chances to get off the mark.
When Plymouth goalkeeper Michael Cooper denied him in the second half at Bramall Lane, the England Under-21 striker threw out his arms in frustration at his failure to score.
“It’ll come for Rhian because he is a finisher,” Wilder said. “You can see that everyone wants him to get off the mark, but his performance was good within a good team performance, it was a decent one from him. His general play was good and he wants to score as much as everyone else wants for him. We’re all rooting for him and it’ll come, he’s a good player.
“He’s got to keep his own spirits up, that is part and parcel of what the game is about. We have belief in him. The players have belief in him and see him day in, day out and
know what a good player he is. They see that every time he trains. To get that first goal will be a big moment for him and when it does happen I’m sure you will see the reaction of everyone around him.”
Brewster, 20, would do well to learn from club captain Billy Sharp, who set up Chris Basham’s opener and scored the decisive goal in the tie before Panutche Camara pulled a goal back to set up a nervous finale for the Premier League’s bottom team.
The margin of victory could have been greater, but Var Jarred Gillett deemed Kelland Watts’s block with his arms above his head to be in the “green zone”, as he told Lee Mason on the field. Even Ryan Lowe, the Plymouth manager, admitted he was no fan of Var after a bizarre afternoon of using replays.
“I couldn’t really see it, but I am glad that I don’t have to deal with that every week,” Lowe said. “It was my first experience and hopefully the last.”
Wilder’s team are now one victory against Bristol City from reaching the quarter-finals in consecutive seasons as the Cup provides a welcome distraction from struggling in the Premier League. “Winning games whenever you can, that is where we all are in this game. We want it done right and we want to win. I’m not different,” Wilder said.