His side may travel to Plymouth Argyle tomorrow on the back of successive defeats at a crucial stage of the promotion race, but Chris Wilder remains adamant that Sheffield United’s season is not over just yet. Tuesday night’s home loss to Millwall saw the Blades drop out of the automatic promotion places with just five games of the regular campaign still to go.
Just two points separate United from the top two, Leeds United and Burnley, with the Blades still to visit Turf Moor on Easter Monday in a clash that is growing in importance by the week. For so long the hunted, United have become the hunters on the final straight of the promotion race but United’s mentality has not changed too much, with their players calling a private meeting this week in a bid to arrest their mini-slump in form.
“I should imagine there'll have been the same situations at all three clubs battling it out,” said Wilder of the pressure of a promotion bid. “We've all had to deal with that. We [all three managers] have all had success personally but it's a new group for me and for Scott [Parker], while Dan's [Daniel Farke] had a season with Leeds United as well.
“We're all in the same situation, with the twists and turns. So keeping calm is important. But for all three clubs to be on 85 points - and I'm not trying to be clever about this now, I'm going on wins and points - at this stage of the season is insane, really, with five games to go.
“We all have the opportunity to win 100 points [although United can only theoretically finish on 98 with their minus-two point deduction]. The points tally is incredible and all have had to do a lot of things right.
“The tally we've got is an incredible achievement. I can't do anything about the narrative and the noise, as we talk about it, from social media and saying ‘We haven't done this and that.’ We own the last two defeats. But we own the 26 wins and the 85 points as well.”
Wilder was delighted to see his players take ownership of the situation earlier this week. “The players had a team meeting yesterday which I’m all over because it shows they're taking responsibility. That isn't me distancing from them, but they're so desperate. The players in this situation need to be as cold as ever ... that's what the best players do.”
- Danny Hall
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