Chelsea v Sheffield United: Giving back to city is Blades' responsibility but they hope to receive Christmas spirit back

This is the time of year when most if not all professional football clubs visit local hospitals to lift the mood. The Blades have already been doing that lately, by following up a performance to restore pride against Liverpool with three invaluable points at home to Brentford.

The sense of what it meant to represent Sheffield United never went away under Wilder's predecessor as manager, Paul Heckingbottom, but in the first two matches since the boyhood fan returned to the dugout they have better been able to demonstrate it on the pitch.

Doing good for good's sake should be all that matters but there is a payback. In a football city like Sheffield, if the red-and-white half has a spring in its step, that reflects on the terraces, and can push them to greater things.

And make no mistake, whatever Chelsea's woes in 2023, the Blades will come home with nothing from there on Saturday unless they bring their A game.

But at a time of year when some footballers might be tempted to moan about overwork or missing parties and family time, meeting people with actual problems, as they did on Tuesday, can be humbling and inspiring too.

"You get all sorts of people at various stages," says Wilder. "I was at the cancer hospital with some incredibly poorly people and some people going through the early stages of it.

"All have a story to tell which are incredibly interesting and incredibly touching.

"There was one woman and we were stood there listening to her story. All of a sudden she has a tight chest and it’s gone from that to her being in Weston Park getting treated for cancer.

"You're thinking, ‘What are you doing on Saturday afternoon at about ten to two, any chance of giving the team talk?’

"I’m sure the boys will have got a lot out of that."

Being part of the community matters, the more so when resources dwarfed by the likes of Chelsea mean you have to find marginal gains elsewhere.

Wilder always complained about having to play in front of empty Bramall Lane stands as Covid-19 turned a charge to Europe into a decline which ended in relegation the following season, by which time he was out of work. Now he has a second chance as a Premier League manager, he wants to make full use of his prize asset.

And if he and his players were greeted with smiles on Tuesday, he is not deluding himself about why.

"It might not have been so welcoming if we'd not produced a performance against Liverpool and not got a result on Saturday (against Brentford)," he is quick to point out.

"But it's yet again an example of how a football club – whatever city or town it's in – affects the mood of the locals.

"Everybody would have been going into work on Thursday and on Monday morning feeling a little bit better about themselves and their football club.

"It's been a decent period for the football club but recently it's been a tough few months. You have to take that on the chin and own that. We only change that narrative by doing what we've done not just for two games but a whole bunch of games.

"They (Blades fans) want to see people run around and be competitive. At times that’s not always the case and it’s happened under me as well but for the majority of times that’s what they see.

"It's a very competitive city in terms of United and Wednesday so they want to be in a position where they can talk fondly and proudly about their football club."

Having half a city behind them would count for nothing if the players were divided.

"The group are a tight group, they're not giving me any problems off the pitch or in terms of pulling in different directions," says Wilder. "I think you saw that on Saturday when the goal went in and the celebrations that followed.

"Everyone was over to Macca (goalscorer James McAtee) and at the end Daniel Jebbison, Rhian (Brewster) and all the young pros plus the likes of John Egan, Oli McBurnie, George Baldock and Ben Osborn were all in and around it, not driving out of the car park thinking, ‘Where am I going tonight?’

"They're in it together and that’s hugely important if we’re going to give ourselves a fighting chance of picking up some results."

But it will need more than that, as he is well aware.

"We've got to show quality on the pitch," he adds. "But we've got to bring them something from a coaching point of view and they've got to deliver that on the pitch.

"This is what happens at Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea when they were at their best under (Jose) Mourinho and Manchester United under Sir Alex (Ferguson).

"It's no good if we slip our standards and we're not aggressive and competitive and we're all over the place

"We're in a good place, that's all I can say, and we'll go (to Chelsea) full of confidence, knowing it's an incredibly tough task to get a result."

With half a city behind you, it is just a touch easier.