Tom Cannon scored 11 times in the first half of last season on loan at Stoke City but he has only found the net once since joining Sheffield United in January
Tom Cannon is having a tough time at Sheffield United.(Image: Tony King/Getty Images)
Sheffield United have signed free agent Pat Bamford as Chris Wilder laments the form of former Stoke City duo Tyrese Campbell and Tom Cannon.
Bamford, aged 32, and Wilder have had public spats in the past. Wilder had labelled Bamford as one of the “muppets from Leeds” after a promotion rivalry while Bamford led an anti-Wilder chant after going up with Leeds last season. He was subsequently released and has been training with his old Chelsea teammate Frank Lampard at Coventry.
Wilder has been forced into emergency action as Sheff Utd sit at the wrong end of the Championship, with the fewest goals scored (11) in the division in the first 15 games of this season.
Callum O’Hare is top scorer with four while Campbell has three and three others – Andre Brooks, Harrison Burrows and Sam McCallum have scored one. There have been no goals yet from Cannon, summer signing Danny Ings or last season’s 10-goal star man Gus Hamer. Kieffer Moore was sold to Wrexham after Wilder had been sacked following defeat in the play-off final – and before he was soon brought back to replace his successor Ruben Selles.
They are in a tight spot with Cannon, having sanctioned a £10 million purchase from Leicester in January after the striker, aged 22, had scored 11 times in the first half of the season on loan with a struggling Stoke side.
He signed a four-year contract but has only scored once in his first 29 appearances for the club and was left out of the match day squad entirely for a game against Derby, along with loan outcast Louie Barry. He was left on the bench through a 0-0 draw with QPR last time out after making a surprise start against Coventry in mid-week.
Wilder told Radio Sheffield after a defeat at the CBS Arena: “Tom stretched the game for us. Tyrese stretched the game for us. Tom is another player, like a lot of them, that are searching and are trying to find the form that we know that they have got.”
The Sheffield Star added: “A surprise name back on the teamsheet here after being dropped at the weekend, not just back in the squad but back in the starting line-up. Boss Wilder said he wanted to see more aggression from the United No.7 and there were signs of that, and he showed good awareness and execution to pull the ball back for Peck’s blocked chance. But a total of seven touches in 66 minutes on the field tells its own story in terms of Cannon’s involvement before he was replaced by Ings.”
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