Liverpool v Sheffield United: Chris Wilder on when he expects more clarity regarding out-of-contract Blades players

The basement club, who face an onerous task at leaders Liverpool tonight, have 18 players who see their deals expire at the end of the season.

They include Oli McBurnie, Daniel Jebbison, John Egan, George Baldock, Jayden Bogle, Max Lowe, Oli Norwood and Wes Foderingham alongside several loanees including Ben Brereton Diaz and James McAtee.

The forward partnership of Brenton Diaz and McBurnie has shown promise in the Blades’ past two matches, but Wilder is pragmatic over the prospects of keeping them.

Wilder said: "Oli Mac is out of contract and Ben’s not our player, so there’s a bit of work to be done.

"Maybe moving forward in the next three or four weeks, we can start broaching those sort of situations, especially with Ben.

"Ben is here until the end of the season and it’s about getting his head down and playing some football. It’s about keeping him and Oli Mac healthy. Certainly both of them make us better.”

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Wilder candidly accepts the club are not in the most ‘powerful position’ to keep the players who they’d like to stay – with McBurnie among that number.

He added: “Oli is one we would love to keep, but he’s out of contract and there’s a reason why players run their contracts down.

"That gives them the power, so unfortunately we’re not in a powerful position with a few of the players.

"Even though some of these players are out of contract, we have to respect they’re in that position and can choose where they want to go and play their football next year. We’ve basically left it towards the end of the season to see how it all pans out.”