Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder reflects on 'brutal' nature of Premier League

Sides like Spurs do not need hand-outs and they were the gleeful beneficiaries of three sloppy moments from the hosts, as Jose Mourinho's side avenged their 3-1 loss in South Yorkshire last summer with victory by the same margin on Sunday.

First-half goals from Serge Aurier and Harry Kane provided Spurs with a two-goal buffer at the interval.

David McGoldrick's sixth goal of the campaign gave United a spot of hope just before the hour mark, but three minutes later, a stunning lob from Tanguy Ndombele sealed victory for the visitors, who won in the league on the red side of Sheffield for the first time since December, 1975.

Wilder, whose side are 11 points adrift of fourth-from-bottom Burnley, having played two games more, said: "It was just the timing and the manner of the goals.

"Then we get ourselves back into the game with a great goal from our point of view and it was game on. Then, to lose possession in the manner we did and a brilliant finish...

"The errors were self-inflicted and this league finds you out when you are a little bit off. In the lead-up, we believed we could get a big result, but it still amazes me when people see it as 'us against them' and we have a divine right to get a result or win the game.

"We still have to do a lot of things right and play near perfectly to get that result.

"They punished us with two world-class finishes from Kane and Ndombele. The brutality of the Premier League was there for everyone to see from our point of view."

Despite his disappointment, Wilder stressed that he has no issues with his players' commitment or work-rate, but admitted that his side looked tired by the end following an emotionally draining week.

Wilder, whose side's next two league games are successive trips to Manchester United and Manchester City, added: "We huffed and puffed and tried to change it and moved players around a little bit.

"But we looked pretty tired. We have squeezed everything out of these players and a few of them looked pretty tired and leggy late on and it was pretty comfortable for them (Spurs) at the end.

"But I believe I am getting everything out of these players."

Wilder confirmed that Ben Osborn missed the game with a calf injury, while John Egan's fifth booking of the season will see him miss next week's game at Old Trafford.