Sheffield United manager Paul Heckingbottom has revealed that Jack Robinson suffered cramp towards the end of yesterday's meeting with Fulham due to a lack of game-time.
The defender was given the opportunity to prove his worth at Craven Cottage as Ben Davies missed out on the trip to London due to personal reasons.
Robinson went on to produce an assured display alongside John Egan and Chris Basham in the heart of defence as the Blades prevented Fulham from scoring in this particular fixture.
Iliman Ndiaye scored what turned out to be the winning goal for the Blades in the third-minute as he slotted home from the edge of the box following a fine solo run.
As a result of this triumph, United moved into the top-half of the Championship standings and are now only three points adrift of Stoke City who currently occupy the final play-off place.
Making reference to Robinson after his side's 1-0 victory over the Cottagers, Heckingbottom has revealed the reasoning behind why the defender suffered cramp last night.
Speaking in his post-match press conference (as cited by Yorkshire Live), the Blades boss said: "[Robinson] got cramp towards the end of the game because he's not played for a while, but he's trained hard to be able to play.
"I had no problem putting him in and he can be proud of how he played today.
"There will be more players needed to step up."
The Verdict
When you consider that Robinson did not feature in any of the Blades' previous 14 league games, his performance against Fulham was incredibly impressive.
During this particular clash, the defender managed to win four aerial duels and make three tackles as he recorded a WhoScored match rating of 7.33.
With the Blades set to face Preston North End on Boxing Day, it will be intriguing to see whether Robinson keeps his place in the club's starting eleven as Davies may be ready to return to the fold for this fixture.
After emerging unscathed from yesterday's game, the 28-year-old will be brimming with confidence following his latest display and thus Heckingbottom ought to consider handing him an extended run in the side.