Chris Wilder: I must find answers to resolve Sheffield United's form dip

The Blades switch focus to Cup matters at the weekend and many supporters will be grateful for that after their side's poor start to the Premier League on its resumption.

A very disappointing second-half performance against Newcastle United was followed by a flat and poor showing for the majority of Wednesday night's 3-0 loss at Manchester United, when the Blades were second best and looked mentally and physically jaded.

A hectic schedule will allow Wilder and his coaching staff little time to try and find practical solutions on the training ground to iron out the Blades' uncharacteristic dip in form, with rest and recuperation being the order of the day as the Bramall Lane outfit prepare for a fourth match in 11 days.

Instead, Wilder and his coaching staff must largely work it out for themselves.

Wilder, whose Blades side last suffered three defeats in a row back in December 2017, said: "We have no time on the training ground to right the wrongs.

"We are mindful of the fact of how much work and energy goes into the players and we have not got a full week (to prepare), which we (previously) had the ability to do in a 38-game season.

"We look at the faults we have made on a Saturday afternoon and are back at it on a Monday morning and we have Monday, Tuesday and Thursday to rectify that. Well, we certainly have not got that now.

"The key to us being at our best and reacting to disappointment has been our hard work on the training ground and really ironing out and recognising the faults and analysing the game to make sure that, come the next game, we are better. We have not that ability to and I have got to find another way.

"It is a big turnaround in games. There will be a lot of thinking from myself and we have got to get the team selection right and the right messages to the players. But most importantly, the players have got to up the standard.

"They have set their own individual bar (before). Players have got to effect it as well. We are not playing well by the standards we set, regardless of what we have done (before)."

Admitting that the Blades let themselves down at Old Trafford and must summon the spirit from within that channel that hurt into a positive response on Sunday, defender Chris Basham said: "We are going to be hurting a lot and we have got an quarter-final in the Cup on Sunday and we need to put things right and get that spark back which we had three or four months ago.

"We didn't laid a glove on them (Manchester United) and are very disappointed with our own performance and disappointed with the way we have let the manager and staff down.

"We lost a bit of belief and didn't do ourselves justice or show up. We weren't ourselves. They showed their quality, we didn't show ours and that's why they won 3-0 and we didn't."