No mercy - Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder demands ruthlessness in wake of thumping win over Swindon

Mark Duffy struck twice and further goals from Caolan Lavery – his first for the club – and Paul Coutts rounded off a comprehensive victory which restored the Blades to a position of authority in League One; the top two. And now back there, Wilder wants his Blades squad to keep their foot on the throats of rival teams.

“If we can get after the game and get after the ball, playing the positive football which we did, then the supporters will make this a difficult place for opposition players to come and play,” said Wilder.

“I want us to keep being relentless and have that attitude, getting after the opposition when they’re rocking. We just needed that early goal and we started off the second half on the front foot and the supporters really got behind us.

“Once we got the first, the players showed a real desire to take the score to three and four. Once the game opened up we really went for the jugular.

“We’ve been like this all season – we’re a front-foot team who go for wins.”

The goal that had been threatened for most of the game eventually came in the 52nd minute, when Duffy’s effort was judged to have crossed the line. Two minutes later, Coutts rifled home the second before Duffy tapped home a second and Lavery got off the mark.

Sheffield United: Moore, Fleck, O’Connell, Basham, Sharp (Clarke 78), Done (Lavery 69), Coutts, Freeman, Ebanks-Landell, Duffy (Scougall 85), Lafferty. Unused substitutes: Hussey, Ramsdale, Wright, Brown.

Swindon Town: Vigouroux, Ormonde-Ottewill, Thomas, Rodgers, Doughty (Hylton 46), Obika (Defouneso 62), Goddard (Smith 68), Furlong, Jones, Rossi-Branco, Norris. Unused substitutes: Henry, Smith, Sharpe, Evans, Murray.

Referee: G Ward (Surrey).