Chris Wilder says Sheffield United 'understood the challenge' in 2-0 win at Stoke City

Sam McCallum and Andre Brooks scored the goals for a team with six changes from the one that lost 2-1 at Burnley on Monday, ending the Blades' challenge for automatic promotion and sending their season into extra time.

It was important not to simply limp into a semi-final, and Wilder was pleased with how his team approached their dead rubber at the home of a team not yet mathematically safe from relegation.

"Our away record's been pretty good all season, until the last few outings, so you have to show a lot of good qualities and character on the road in this division and we've done that all season," said Wilder.

"We understood the challenge with what they're fighting for but we were fighting for something as well and we didn't take a backward step in a pretty physical game.

"People talk about getting ready for the play-offs but there's no better way to do that than winning games of football and we talked about it before. We needed a clean sheet and a proper away performance and I believe we got that."

The last thing the Blades would have wanted was any injuries, but Rhian Brewster was on the rough end of a couple of robust challenges, playing on until his 85th-minute substitution.

Wilder had no problem with that.

"I've got no criticism of our approach or Stoke's, I like to see games of football like that," he said. "The crowd got involved and we've managed to score a couple of goals and get us over the line.

"There were challenges all over the place.

"I thought the referee (Jarred Gillett) saw that and that's part and parcel of Championship football. Supporters want to see that – big challenges, big headers, big races – just as well as decent football. I think we got the mix right."

Explaining his team selection, which saw best player Gustavo Hamer watching from the away end, Wilder said: "We've had to do a lot of balancing because there have been some key players who needed to come out of the team to give them a little bit of a breather, and some who needed more minutes – Rob Holding, Femi (Seriki), Rhian, Callum O'Hare. Sam McCallum.

"It's been an ideal night for us and I thought our supporters were absolutely outstanding.

"Really I shouldn't have done, but I came to the game wondering how it was going to be. I thought they got right behind the team from the first minute. Sometimes you wonder, because of what's happened over the last two weeks, how they would react but I thank them for the reaction they gave not just me but the players.

"They gave them real energy to go and produce a good away performance."

Sheffield United's play-off semi-final first leg is away on May 8, against opponents still to be decided.

First they must complete their regular season campaign with a home game against Blackburn Rovers on May 3.