Sheffield United v Chelsea - John Lundstram reaffirms his commitment to the Blades survival cause

The midfielder is not yet writing off the chances he could stay at Bramall Lane beyond the summer despite having held off writing his name at the bottom of the contract the Blades started pushing under his nose over a year ago.

Many a player would have downed tools or even subconsciously come a fraction off the gas at a time when a bad injury could ruin his future employment prospects.

The first half of the season was bitty from a player who shot to prominence in 2019-20 with his ability to arrive late and find the net. Early on in this campaign his manager Chris Wilder effectively announced he had given up on twisting the 26-year-old’s arm and was resigned to losing him. The goals dried up and the starts were infrequent.

It is probably no coincidence Lundstram has kicked off the last seven matches, five of which his side have won to breathe fresh hope into them ahead of tomorrow night’s visit from Chelsea, the Blues’ first since taking a 3-0 beating on Cherry Street in July.

But then it is hard to imagine Lundstram ever being half-hearted about a game of football, not when he claims to have “a face on” every time he loses at five-a-side. Nor is it surprising a group of players containing plenty who got held down a year in the school of hard knocks are coming out fighting with the ink just about dry on their Premier League obituaries.

“That comes from the manager as well,” stresses Lundstram. “He would never let us lie down and die, never.

“We go away to Liverpool and try and get a result, we go away to Man City and try and get a result, that’s the character he instils in us.

“We’ve all come from the lower leagues – well, most of us – and built our careers up from there, so I know we’re all fighters and we will give it a right go.”

Many club’s press offices would have a panic attack at the mere thought of letting a player running his contract down speak to the media. United’s motto is “Forged In Steel” but particularly under Wilder it could just as easily be whatever the Latin is for “Gerr on wi’ it.”

“We’ve put ourselves in this position and I’m going to try to help us get out of it,” says Lundstram. “Even in five-a-side in training, if I lose, I have a face on me for the rest of the day.

“I’m definitely 100 per cent committed.”

If he is like that after a Shirecliffe kickabout, what must he have been like after two points from the Blades’ opening 17 league games?

“It was tough, it really was tough,” he admits. “You try not to take it home with you, but it’s hard not to.

“My missus, she suffered. I used to say to her, ‘I’m fine, I’m fine,’ but it was eating away at you.

“You’ve just got to really grind it out and stick together, that’s the biggest thing. There’s no one person who put us in this position and we’ve got to stick together.”

If losing made him that miserable, it was obvious what would cure it. Whilst many teams used FA Cup third round day to rest players after a gruelling Festive schedule, Wilder gathered his best players for a trip to the Memorial Ground and told them to gerr on wi’ it.

“I think just getting that first win out of the way, in the FA Cup game,” says Lundstram when asked for the turning point. “I know it was away at Bristol Rovers but it’s still a tough place to go, you know what the Cup’s like. Just getting that first win was massive to get the pressure out of the way because there were games we should have won earlier in the season or even drawn and we didn’t quite get over the line.

“That first win was massive for us in terms of relieving that pressure.

“You could feel it a little bit, you could just feel the pressure easing. When we didn’t get that win for so long it was just really hard to grind it out. I think if we’d got it a little bit earlier we would be in a completely different situation now but it wasn’t to be so we’re going to have to drag ourselves out of it.”

There is pride at stake, but livelihoods too. Some well-rewarded football careers will take a bit of a dent if the club is relegated – Tuesday’s win over West Brom at least ensured they avoid going down in history with the Premier League’s lowest points tally – but for colleagues who work elsewhere at the club, many of them lifelong fans, the damage will be far greater.

“It puts things into perspective when it’s people’s jobs on the line, it becomes even bigger,” admits Lundstram. “We’ve got to deal with that pressure. Unfortunately, we haven’t quite dealt with that up to this point but all I can say is we’re really trying our best to try and correct it, we’re working and fighting.

“You get to know the people behind the scenes. It’s a great run club and there are a lot of lovely characters. For people to be let go, it would be devastating for them.

“Whether it’s your first season as a professional footballer or your last, whether you’re in contract or out of contract, no player wants a relegation on his CV. I’m no different, every lad in the changing room is no different, the manager’s no different.”

With 11 points to make up in 16 games, the reality is the Blades could well still be found wanting but with Lundstram’s mindset typical of the dressing room, their effort will not be.

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