Chris Wilder delighted as Sheffield United 'find a way' into FA Cup quarter-finals

With the club well placed to qualify for Europe through the Premier League too, it is turning into a magnificent season.

“We’re in a fabulous position,” said manager Wilder. “To be in this situation is great for a newly-promoted side. To get the job done and to find a way to win a game of football was great from our point of view.

“I don’t know where the team can take us this season because this group, they just roll onto the next challenge. Their attitude is great.

“This was a really dangerous game and so to get the result was very satisfying.

“To be mentioned in the Champions League talk represents what we’ve done. I can’t see them backing off, and I won’t let them back off. But they’ve got a hunger and a desire to keep doing it.”

Championship Reading gave the Blades a real scare, equalising through George Puscas's penalty at the end of the first half, and playing the better football at the start of the second period, and extra-time.

“They were inspired players who raised their game, we’ve done our homework on them,” said Wilder. “Our senior staff have attended the last two games but we knew this would be a different Reading.

“We will stay honest in our approach. Millwall talked about our consistency of mentality (after the Blades' fourth-round win over them) and Mark (Bowen, Reading's manager) did before the game.”

Captain Sharp came off the bench to score the decisive goal, and his manager was fulsome in his praise afterwards.

“Billy was in the right place at the right time,” he said. “He enjoys playing against Reading and he’s a finisher.

“We knew it was going to be tight, they’ve got some talented players and their crowd inspired them.

“Billy’s a goalscore. He’s not played too many games before Christmas but he has kept himself in shape and there’s always a part for him to play.

“He has got us into the next round. He’s scoring at the minute and contributing as a player but as a skipper he’s always doing that off the pitch. That shows what a special player he is.

“There was interest (from other clubs in signing Sharp in January) because he wasn’t playing but he was never going anywhere. If he comes to me and says that his future is elsewhere then fine we will look at that, but for now he’s scoring goals and has a part to play.

“To give an example of the type of player he is, in the season before I arrived, United finished 11th. He was leading scorer and won all the player of the year awards but he was absolutely disappointed because they’d finished 11th. Personal accolades didn’t mean anything to him.

“That’s the mark of him as a skipper.”

The draw for the quarter-finals is on Thursday.