Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder has spoken out in defence of number one Aaron Ramsdale following criticism from Jamie Carragher.

The Sky Sports pundit was critical of the keeper’s part in Ben Chilwell’s goal that put Chelsea 2-1 up in the defeat at the weekend. Wilder admits Ramsdale made an error for the goal but he is still a young player who is learning the game:

“He was at fault for the second goal, we won’t hide behind that. We had a young goalkeeper last year that made mistakes for us and we have another young goalkeeper here. That’s the road that we went down, so we have to stay with it.”

The Blades shelled out £18.5m on Ramsdale as they sought a replacement for Dean Henderson in the summer. Despite the criticism, the 22-year-old has not done too badly; if we put his mistake at the weekend to one side.

He has a save percentage of 70.8% this campaign, which is above the 67.8% he managed for Bournemouth last season. The shot-stopper is also not underperforming in terms of expected goals (xG) conceded compared to actual goals conceded either.

Sheffield United have expected to concede 13.9 this season and Chris Wilder’s side have actually let in 14 so, while Ramsdale isn’t doing anything spectacular, he is certainly not the reason why they have picked up one solitary point from eight games played.