Blades continue Championship preparations with friendly against fellow Yorkshire side Doncaster Rovers

Sheffield United will play their second friendly outing of pre-season at the Keepmoat Stadium on Wednesday evening against League One outfit Doncaster Rovers. It will also give Blades fans a first glimpse of their side under new manager Slavisa Jokanovic.

The South Yorkshire side have only played one friendly match thus far this summer with the 2021/22 Championship opener against Birmingham City now less than two weeks away.

A 3-0 win over Gibraltar’s Europa Point F.C. rounded off the Blades’ training camp in southern Spain two weeks ago with a healthy mix of seasoned first-teamers and youth prospects.

Although, with more regulars now available after respective international commitments, Jokanovic will be able to field a stronger squad when the Serbian’s side make the short journey to Doncaster.

Despite the fixture having little significance in the upcoming season as a whole, it will be a joyous occasion with travelling Blades fans enjoying their first away day since March 2020.

Usually, a friendly on home soil would also act as an opportunity to get a first glance at new additions, however, transfer business has been next to non-existent so far this summer with no new faces so far.

However, there could be a signing or two made in time for next weekend’s season opener with United keen to dip into the loan market and bring in Premier League talent to Bramall Lane for the season.

Aston Villa’s Conor Hourihane has been linked with a move for the campaign after a successful spell at Swansea City in the second half of last season, registering five goals and two assists in 22 appearances as the South Wales side fell short of promotion as they lost out 2-0 to Brentford in the play-off final.

There’s also a high likelihood that Jokanovic will oversee the odd outgoing once the 50-year-old has fully analysed and monitored his squad with Arsenal seeing two bids rejected for goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale. Should an offer of around £30m be submitted, it will be hard for the Blades to reject such a deal.

Wednesday night’s clash will certainly give Slavisa Jokanovic and the Sheffield United faithful a better idea of where their side is going into one final friendly against Norwich on Saturday and then the season opener the following weekend.

However, after a largely uneventful summer, it appears that the next weeks will certainly be busy.

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