Leeds United v Sheffield United: Pantomime villain Chris Wilder on his respect for Yorkshire rivals

Blades manager Chris Wilder has never been afraid to antagonise his West Yorkshire rivals, from infamously (and he admits unwisely) calling Patrick Bamford and Adam Forshaw "muppets" when well hydrated during 2019 promotion celebrations to accusing the Elland Road club of "lowballing" his with their offer for Gustavo Hamer in the last transfer window.

He has history with Leeds manager Farke too, accusing the then-Norwich City boss of time-wasting and of being disrespectfully late for a pre-match meeting with the officials at Bramall Lane in 2017.

Although Wilder insists "The first meeting didn't go very well but after that, I find him tremendous company," nothing is more certain than him getting dog’s abuse at Elland Road when the sides meet in the Championship on Friday night.

But the Sheffielder has "grudging respect" for a club bigger than his own. In the summer Leeds picked off £5m Jayden Bogle, who Wilder wanted to rebuild this season's Blades around, but were unable to sign Hamer too.

"It's not that if I go to Leeds for a bite to eat with the wife I'm getting spat at or sworn at, although I've never felt that in Sheffield," he says.

"It doesn't have that hostility but there's definitely rivalry and people who will want to stir it. There’ll be stuff coming out about what I've said historically, what I've said about Jayden and Gus Hamer and a couple of others but it's part and parcel of football, it's how we roll.

"I've got an unbelievable respect for Leeds and what they've achieved. I'm a football man, I'm not daft, I know what their club's about. One of my best pals played for them."

Leeds have always been the club (bar inter-city rivalries) others in Yorkshire most want to bring down.

"I think we've always felt we're in their shadow a little bit and football-wise with what they've achieved as a football club," admits Wilder.

"Maybe it would have been a bit different if there was one team in this city but there's two big clubs and a huge team in the city of Leeds.

"We've lost a few players up the road in our time, from Mick Jones to TC (Tony Currie) to (Alejandro) Sabella to Keith Edwards to Brian Deane, the list is endless.

"I think people who know and understand their football will recognise Leeds United are a top-six club in English football. They're an Aston Villa, they're up there for me because of the history, support, what they've achieved and the players that have played for them.

"We're not a top-six club in English football. We're not.

"But we'd like to be a top-20 club and take it as high as possible.

"There's a bit of grudging respect for what they've achieved."

Rising to the occasion of a televised game will be a test of character for a revamped (and bar Tom Davies, fully-fit) squad which has passed most others in the early weeks of the season.

"There's players that won't have had the hostility of Elland Road on a Friday night but if you want to be top players and play at the highest level you've got to handle it," argues Wilder. "If you want to be a top player, a top team or a top manager you've got to enjoy these occasions.

"It's not at the top table but it's not a million miles off in terms of the magnitude of the game. Enjoy it.

"Looking at the players' body language earlier in the week and talking about it early on in the preparation, the likes of Vini Souzza, Anel (Ahmedhodzic), (Harry) Souttar, Kieffer Moore, Gus Hamer want to play in these games.

"It'll be a new experience for (Jesurun) Rak-Sakyi, (Alfie) Gilchrist, Harrison Burrows and (Michael) Cooper but if they want big careers playing at the highest level they've got to deal with 38,000 on a Friday night under the lights at Elland Road."