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In the English "Premier" League, the club occupying the 17th place was shocked by bad news. The most productive player of the team this season, forward Rob Hulse, will not be able to play for the rest of the season due to a fractured leg and will undergo surgery. However, coach Neil Warnock hopes that the player will return sooner than initially thought.
The 27-year-old footballer suffered a double leg fracture in Saturday's 3-0 loss to Chelsea after a collision with opponent goalkeeper Petr Cech.
"The surgeon was pleased with how things went," said Sheffield United's head coach Neil Warnock to the club's official website. "We believe that rehabilitation should take about six months, which is significantly less than we initially imagined."
R. Hulse, who is the leader of Sheffield United this season, tried to reach a pass from his teammate Keith Gillespie in the first half of the match against Chelsea, but unsuccessfully collided with goalkeeper P. Cech.
"When I was running to get the ball, we collided and I knew the collision was very painful," said Petr Cech, the goalkeeper of the Czech national team, to Chelsea's official website. "I am happy that after that the ball moved in a completely different direction, not towards the goal, but seeing Rob lying on the ground with his leg, I understood that there would be serious problems. Of course, it was an unfortunate accident, but it's always sad when you see a professional footballer lying injured on the field. He was very unlucky."
After this defeat, Neil Warnock's Sheffield United club dropped to 17th place, and with 8 rounds left in the championship, they are only four points away from the relegation zone.
However, despite the fact that the coach will have to continue the season without his team's leader R. Hulse, he focuses on the positives.
"We have to move up, which gives opportunities to other teams," adds N. Warnock. "In attack, we have Jonathan Stead, Christian Nade, and Danny Webber. In addition, Luton Shelton is slowly regaining form."
This season, R. Hulse has scored 8 goals in the Premier League, which is the best result in the club, as other players in the country's championships have not scored more than two goals.
D. Webber has scored 3 goals in total this season, while C. Nade and newcomer J. Stead, who arrived from Sunderland in January, have each scored two accurate shots.
Jamaican national team player L. Shelton, who also joined the club from Helsingborg in Sweden in January, has not yet made his debut for Sheffield United.
