Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder has reassured David McGoldrick of his importance to the team after admitting the forward is disappointed to still be searching for his first Premier League goal.
McGoldrick missed a handful of chances on Sunday as the Blades maintained their unbeaten away record with a 1-1 draw at Wolves.
The best opportunity the Republic of Ireland international had came following Lys Mousset’s opener, firing the ball straight at Rui Patricio when through on goal, before Matt Doherty punished that miss with Wolves’ equaliser.
McGoldrick will head into Thursday’s home game against Newcastle without a club goal since April, but Wilder insists the 32-year-old contributes much more than just goals.
“I had five minutes with David in the dressing room, away from everyone else, and told him how key he is for us,” said the Blades boss.
“He wants to get one, of course he does, but we play better with David in the team and the partnership between him and Lys is very important for us at this moment in time. Make no mistake about that.
“When David came off, because of a change we wanted to make, I didn’t hear anyone in our crowd sounding pleased. In fact, they were chanting and singing his name all the way through.
“That shows you what they think of him and everyone knows what we think of him as well. He’s a terrific player for us. Looking at the bigger picture, which you have to do, he brings so much to the table.”
Maximilian Kilman was handed his first Premier League start for Wolves on Sunday – the 22-year-old getting his chance with Romain Saiss suspended.
The defender was playing for non-League Maidenhead at the beginning of last season and he spoke of his pride at making his full debut in the top flight.
“It was unbelievable, I never expected to be playing a couple of years ago, to finally get that first game, I’m very relieved and really happy,” Kilman told the club website.
“I already made my debut at Molineux, but I just thought ‘just take the game normally, it’s just a game of football, something to build on and go from there’. I need to keep my head down and keep working.”
