Chris Wilder left to rue slow start by Sheffield United in Premier League defeat to Wolves

Goals in the opening six minutes from Raul Jimenez and Romain Saiss served as the worst possible start for the Blades, who were left ‘with a mountain to climb’ according to Wilder.

The United chief was heartened by the side’s response, especially in the second half, but it was a night which belonged to the visitors, who gained a modicum of revenge after losing out to a goal in the third minute of stoppage time at Bramall Lane in July.

Wilder said: “The game kicked off at six minutes past six for us and unfortunately we were 2-0 down. The two goals were avoidable from our point of view.

“It hurt us and gave us a mountain to climb. I have no complaints about the result, other than a couple of complaints about the manner of the two goals.

“It was a difficult position to be in against a side that possessed unbelievable pace on the counter-attack.

PLAYER RATINGS – Who was Blades’ top performer in opening night defeat to Wolves?

“You have to risk trying to get (back) into the game, which we did - especially in the second half - to leave ourselves a little bit open.

“It is always a test for any professional footballer when you are 2-0 down in the first game of the season after six minutes.

“But I am not surprised at their attitude and character. We did not play with ten, nine or eight men in the second half with people going missing. They stuck at it, but we lacked a touch of quality when we got into some fantastic positions.

“We did not cave in and get the white flag out and stayed in the game.

“It was a disappointing night for us, but we quickly move on. The challenges we have spoken about as a group is how you get on when you get beaten.

“Obviously, we have had a decent run at it over the past three or four years. But that really counts for nothing.

“We will quickly move onto Thursday to get a positive performance out of the players at Burnley and then it is a tough away game at (Aston) Villa who are going again in terms of the players they are bringing in.”

Wilder has confirmed that Oli Burke - an unused substitute against Wolves - will feature in Thursday’s Carabao Cup tie at Burnley.

The Blades chief is also continuing in his pursuit of another striker to top off his close-season recruitment, with Liverpool’s Rhian Brewster being his No 1 target.

“We are definitely looking to improve and get one at the top of the pitch to give us that quality,” he added.

“We are trying. It is an important area of the pitch. Obviously we have the skipper (Billy Sharp) and David McGoldrick who were involved.

“Oli Burke has not played any minutes of football at all, so he will start his season on Thursday night at Burnley.”

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Thank you, James Mitchinson. Editor.