Chris Wilder on why the 'wheels have not fallen off' for Sheffield United

United face a daunting examination at champions Liverpool on Saturday evening, with the degree of difficulty added to by the fact that two influential players from last season in Jack O'Connell and John Fleck are sidelined.

But Wilder is remaining calm and feels that, in terms of performances at least, their opening to the current campaign is not massively dissimilar to events at the beginning of last term, when his side earned plenty of plaudits.

He said: "We are not leaving any stone unturned in terms of what we can do as a staff and me as a manager. We can reflect back on last year and use the experiences.

"There was the goal at Bournemouth in the last minute and that gave belief to the players and the really tight win versus (Crystal) Palace and the draw versus Chelsea in the last minute after being 2-0 down.

"Sticking the ball in the back of the net is the biggest thing that gives you confidence and belief. We have had opportunities in all games.

"There is not a huge one (difference) between our first four or five performances this year to our first four or five last year. I wouldn't say the wheels have fallen off this year and we were incredibly good in the first four or five last year.

"But the different thing is we scored and took chances at crucial times and didn;t make mistakes at crucial times, which we have done this year."