Battle to reach Premier League seems so long ago for fallen pair

Ten years ago, Neil Warnock’s side were beaten 3-0 in the Championship play-off final to deny the Blades promotion to the Premier League.

Instead, Dave Jones – now in charge of their city rivals Wednesday – took Wolves to feast at football’s top table and helped write another unwanted chapter in United’s play-off failures.

A decade later, those days seem a distant playing field away. Both are operating in League One, English football’s third tier, and no one knows better than Neill Collins how far the two clubs have fallen.

The Blades defender, who has chalked up over 100 appearances in the red and white stripes of United, also has strong links with the Molineux club having played for three years at Wolves before his departure in 2010.

When the 30-year-old defender left the Black Country, Wolves were still a Premier League club but, just like the Blades, they fell on hard times and back-to-back relegations have left them stranded in League One.

The two clubs are considered heavyweight contenders in League One. Collins, though, is pragmatic enough to realise a football club is only recognised for its achievements on the pitch, an area where neither Wolves or United have excelled in recent years.

“The thing is with football it’s not fans, stadiums and clubs that determine what league you play in. It’s, unfortunately, the team on the pitch,” he said.

“In Sheffield United’s case the fans have been unfortunate that the team has not reflected what the club should deserve right now. But that’s where we are right now, we are a League One team, backed by Premiership supporters at a Premiership ground.

“Wolves, right now, are the same, but we are not the only clubs to have been in that position.

“On Saturday we both happen to be playing in this league, but you only have to look at teams like Norwich, Southampton, Leeds United. They have been in this position, but have come through it.

“I am sure we will do the same.

“Wolves versus Blades in League One; it’s the beauty of English football that it can happen to anybody.”

Playing Wolves would always have been a huge game this season for United, but having failed to win since the opening day of the season the pressure is on David Weir’s team to halt their alarming slide into the relegation zone.

“Wolves is a big game, especially after you have been on a run of poor results,” said Collins. “At the same time it would be a big game, for these two clubs to meet in this division is quite unusual.”

Tomorrow Collins will face a raft of familiar faces, none more so than Kevin McDonald, the midfielder who quit Bramall Lane for Molineux last month after a £250,000 get-out clause was invoked in his contract.

Collins is promising a bruising welcome for his former room-mate.

“They have got a lot of players that I know very well, a lot of friends from my time there,” he said.

“Kevin McDonald; we know what a good player Kev can be and I am sure he will be wanting to do well against us on Saturday.

“Again, that’s just part and parcel of football. You seem to come up against friends and acquaintances that you have played with. It’s just part of the job. Once the whistle goes to start the game, try and kick lumps out of them, then once the (final) whistle blows you wish them all the best.

“It’s a ruthless cut-throat game, football. That’s the kind of attitude you need. If we are going to win there on Saturday everybody needs to be prepared, whether that’s kicking him or be aggressive with him. Kevin will be the same, although I don’t think he’s hurt anyone in his life,” he grinned.

“It’s him on the ball we have to worry about. Kev’s a nice lad, very laid back. He got on well with everyone. I roomed with him in Scotland in pre-season and got on with him really well being a fellow Scot.

“It was disappointing to lose someone like that, but it’s something you get used to. That’s the way it goes.

“You come in in the morning and someone could be gone – your best mate, or the best player on the team. You just have to deal with it. We have obviously had more players leave in the past that we would have liked to have kept.

“Hopefully that will stop now and we will be able to keep our best players, go from strength to strength.”

There has not been much banter between the two Scotsmen in the build-up to the game. With United slumped near the bottom of the table, Collins and his team-mates have had little to boast about.

“We are not really in a position to be bantering, we are just wanting to stay under the radar,” said Collins. “If we were top of the league there would be a lot more banter, but we just want to get the show on the road and win.

“Everything has been very workmanlike, serious, and we are just trying to put things right.

“One thing’s for sure, the feeling you get on a Saturday and Sunday after the results we have had is not good. It really, really hurts us; just like the fans, it hurts us.

“You can only show it so much, but it affects your entire week. Hopefully on Saturday we can have a good feeling.”