How Sheffield United deal with Championship play-off final disappointment will define players' careers, says Chris Wilder

Tommy Watson's goal in the fifth-minute of added time saw Sunderland win the Championship play-off final 2-1 at Wembley after Tyrese Campbell has given the Blades a 25th-minute lead.

It was the 10th time the Blades have been in the play-offs and they have missed promotion nine times and been relegated to Division Three under the original format in 1988. They have now lost their last eight games at Wembley.

For all the talk of the transformative money the Black Cats will now receive, for the players the biggest disappointment will be missing out on playing in the world's best domestic league having been the better team throughout the final.

It will be even more acute for Andre Brooks, who missed a great chance before Eliezer Mayenda's equaliser and Kieffer Moore, whose poor touch gave the ball to Watson for the winner.

"It's how you deal with it," said Wilder when he spoke to the media around an hour-and-a-half after the full-time whistle. "I've not talked to the players but they'll be hurting, we have to own it and suffer together.

"Most importantly I'm gutted for the supporters because they really gave us a massive amount of respect and energy going into this final."

Now his players must show character absent in the immediate aftermath when all declined to front up passing through the mixed zone where journalists can approach them for interviews.

"They're big boys and they've got to get over it if they're going to have decent careers,” said Wilder.

"They're going have to deal with not achieving something we all dreamed of, planned for and tried to execute.

"We're in a sport that is not straight-forward. These things can happen, especially on a one-off game. It was not luck, it was in our hands and we have to deal with that.

"The game was in our hands.

"Michael (Cooper, Sheffield United's goalkeeper)'s not had a save to make (one, from Chris Rigg) and I've not really thought we were under a huge amount of pressure.

"But we have to be better and kill teams off. We've not found that quality that we should have found with the players that we've got.

"Their careers will be defined by getting over disappointments and (if not) they won't have a career.

"If I look back at my career, it was defined by disappointment.

"I got released at Southampton when I was 18 – possibly the most shattering blow that could happen to a young footballer – and I ended up playing over 400 games.

"There's other things that happen in life that far worse, but at the moment it hurts.

"But it happens in every sport, in every way of life and it tests you.

"We've tried to build the football club on being resolute and tough and character and culture. So that'll be tested.

"(Without that) then players are not going to progress their careers.

"I've got no issue in terms of looking in the mirror and picking myself up and picking people around me up and you have to go again."