Aston Villa v Sheffield United: Blades enjoying '˜mixing it with the big boys', says Wilder

Sheffield United players are seeing the emotional side of Chris Wilder '“ and the Blades' manager makes no apology for it.
Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder.Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder.
Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder.

United have enjoyed a winning culture at Bramall Lane since Wilder arrived back at his boyhood club.

They romped to the League One title last season, bagging 100 points to clinch promotion.

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And the Blades have been one of the Championship’s surprise packages this season including a spell as league leaders.

But a five-game winless streak has brought about the biggest challenge faced by Wilder in his 18 months at United.

The latest defeat, a 1-0 loss at Preston last weekend, sparked a passionate response from Wilder, who accused some players of maybe “taking their eye off the ball a little bit”.

Today United travel to Aston Villa and Wilder is refusing to tone down his approach to management.

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“I am not going to change my approach, I am an emotional guy,” he said. “Players have to understand that, that’s how I manage.

“I am not smashing the players up, I am just reminding them of the standards that they have set in this division this season.

“I don’t look at names on backs of shirts, I just look to us playing at our maximum ability. When we don’t I want to know why, what are the reasons?

“At the moment it’s a combination of certain things which are not allowing us to produce our best performances.

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“Some we can control, which we need to do better with – individual performances, defending better, making better decisions at the top of the pitch – and there’s some things we can’t control.

“I have set high standards and I am not going to apologise for that. We are underdogs in this division and I like the challenge of mixing it with the big boys.”

Villa and United meet today, fifth and sixth respectively in the Championship, both locked on 37 points.

Wilder is relishing the chance to cause an upset at Villa Park and get United’s season back on track.

“Villa is a powerful, historic, fantastic football club.

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“Everybody will write us off and I understand that, it’s football,” he said.

“There are certain standout fixtures in the calendar, and this is one for us.”

Wilder explained: “It’s up to 
us to put in a performance and get a result which upsets the odds.

“Our players should be rubbing their hands together and saying, ‘come on, let’s get ourselves back on track, we have not done ourselves justice in the last three or four games in terms of results’.

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“I wouldn’t say performances have been terrible, we have not been smashed or been on the ropes in any game we have been beaten.

“I don’t think we are a million miles off getting our season back up and running again.

“Maybe we are not on a level playing field, in many senses, on Saturday, but my team deserves to be in the position we are in,” he added.