Sheffield United manager Kevin Blackwell believes departed striker Billy Sharp struggled at times to cope with the pressures of playing for his hometown club. Lifelong Blades fan Sharp has completed a reported £1.1million move from Bramall Lane to Doncaster, where he scored 15 goals in 34 games while on loan last season. The 24-year-old turned down a move to Burnley after they had had a recent bid for the 24-year-old accepted. Blackwell said: "It's always disappointing for any manager to lose quality players and if you're running a squad of 24/25 or so you want the best you can get, but I wish him well and I'm sure he'll make a good job of it. "When I came back here Billy was not in the team and I gave him a long run, but maybe the fact that he's a real Blade and was desperate to succeed weighed heavily on him at times, plus he was very unlucky on occasions with disallowed goals. "At least we do have plenty of cover up front now which we didn't have last season when injuries hit us badly. "The arrival of Daniel Bogdanovic to join Richard Cresswell, Darius Henderson, Ched Evans has added further strength in that department and with Jamie Ward also an option to go down the middle it's a chance for Billy to go where he wants."
Source: PA
Source: PA