Blades in mood to bounce back up

Ninety-two goals not only represented the club’s highest return in almost a quarter-of-a-century, it also underlined the Blades’ standing as the great entertainers of League One.

A points tally of 90 was also remarkable in that only one team in history – Sunderland in 1997-98 – had not won promotion with such an impressive total.

Of course, as the tears flowed and eyes instinctively turned away from the celebrating mass of blue and white at the end of Wembley where Steve Simonsen had blazed the decisive penalty over the bar, such thoughts were hardly consoling ones.

Now, however, with the new season just a couple of days away, Wilson is keen to accentuate the positives as the Blades look to follow Sunderland’s lead from 15 years ago and banish the memory of a play-off final defeat on penalties by clinching automatic promotion.

“The fallout from not getting promoted does take a bit of time to get over,” said the United manager when speaking to the Yorkshire Post at the club’s Shirecliffe training base.

“There is no hiding from that fact. Everyone needs the (summer) break. That is understandable. For nine or 10 months, we live in each other’s pockets so getting away freshens the mind up a bit.

“It helps you get over it and, looking at the lads, they are ready to go again now.

“Last season, there were so many positives to take out of what happened and so many pluses to be proud of.

“To score 90-odd goals in a season at any level is phenomenal. The bottom line, though, is we wanted to get promoted. It didn’t happen but the fact we didn’t go up with 90 points was something of a freak.

“What we did was conduct ourselves in a way that everyone benefited from. The fans seemed to enjoy the way we played and the commitment we showed. We have to enhance that.

“There is not a lot wrong. We have to go for 90 points again.”

Whichever of United or Huddersfield missed out on promotion at Wembley, there were always going to be repercussions.

Town chairman Dean Hoyle, for instance, told this newspaper just an hour after the play-off final that another season in League One for his club would have meant the playing budgeting having to be cut by 35 per cent.

For the Blades, another year in the third tier has brought a tightening of belts right across the club. Simonsen and Lee Williamson have been among those to leave, while speculation continues to surround the future of the remaining high-earners.

A major plus, however, came with Kevin McDonald agreeing a new two-year contract, while the signing of Neil Blackman from Blackburn Rovers last week has already yielded the striker’s first goal.

The key now is to start in a positive fashion and avoid the dreaded play-off final hangover that has seen some sides struggle – including Wilson’s own Swindon Town in 2010-11, when they were relegated just a year after losing to Millwall at Wembley.

“Huddersfield showed what can be done,” said the Blades manager about how the Terriers went on to clinch promotion a year after losing to Peterborough United at Old Trafford.

“The players know that, they don’t need me ramming it down their throats.

“Their own determination will see them through but the proof is in the pudding that teams can respond in the right way.

“Millwall also managed it a couple of years ago. There are several others who have done it, too, since the play-offs were set up.

“The key is to draw from your experiences of the year before. The disappointment is there but you can also channel it in the right way.

“We can only do what we did last year and that is recreate the great belief and camaraderie that we had last year.

“That has to continue and build on it. There is not a lot wrong. We have lost a couple of players, of course we have.

“But that happens in football all the time. The old saying is ‘The King is dead, long live the King’. They are replaced. It can be a disappointment at first but you move on.”

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