Bristol City v Sheffield United: Chris Wilder aims to 'rewrite' another club chapter as Blades seek to end epic play-off curse

In his maiden season of 2016-17, he led the Blades to the League One title - the club’s first league silverware since 1982 - with a record haul of 100 points.

Then in 2018-19, Wilder was at the helm when United ended their 12-year absence from the Premier League, while in the following year, the club finished in the top 10 of the top flight for the first time in 28 years.

Now in his second spell in the dug-out, the Blades chief is seeking another noteworthy accomplishment as he strives to rid the club of their curse in the end-of-season lottery.

United have lost out in all of their previous eight promotion play-off campaigns, accompanied by a defeat in a relegation play-off back in 1987-88, ironically against the club who they now face over two legs in Bristol City.

Wilder - a member of that particular Blades side - is conscious of the weight of club history in that regard more than most. Penning a happier new chapter remains a strong motivation.

He said: "It has got nothing to do with us (now) in terms of past (play-offs) records or whatever, it’s stuff that the media and maybe supporters talk about. “We are here to rewrite stuff as we have talked about from 2016. If I’d have thought that (weight of history), I wouldn’t have walked into the building in 2016 when the club had six years in League One and I’d have listened to the majority of my pals who said: ‘What are you doing taking the job?’

"I took it and was eternally grateful for taking that opportunity to affect the journey of the football club.

"It’s serving the club which has given me some incredible moments as a player and supported me incredibly well as a manager and I want to repay everybody in doing my utmost to try and achieve something which will again be special."

After missing out on automatic promotion in an extraordinary Championship campaign which saw champions Leeds United and runners-up Burnley register a century of points, United have pressed the ‘reset’ button following defeat at Turf Moor on Easter Monday, when their top-two hopes ended.

They now face two appointments with a Robins side who finished 22 points behind them in the regular season, starting with tonight’s game in the West Country. As far as Wilder is concerned, what happens next is the only thing that counts now.

The Blades chief, whose side won there in the league fixture on Bonfire Night thanks to Harrison Burrows’ goal in the eighth minute of stoppage time, continued: "We understand that the next two games are in front of us. I've got far too much experience to think anything else.

"I've been hurt far too many times and I'm not that type of manager - and the team's not that type of team - to think we’re just going to walk into Ashton Gate and just steamroll over the top of them because we finished 22 points or wherever it is above them.

"And we were in the Premier League last year and we've got this player and that player... We've got to go to battle, go and do it the hard way, go and earn the right."