Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder defends gameplan, but unhappy it did not produce three points

Chris Wilder made no apologies for Sheffield United's cautious first-half approach against Fulham, but was left bitterly disappointed not to win the game when it exploded.

After conceding five goals or more in each of their previous four home matches, the Blades made a point of shutting down the game, allowing the Cottagers to have the vast majority of the ball but restricting them to one chance of note, which Ivor Grbic tipped onto a post from Rodrigo Muniz.

But they stepped up a gear or two in the second half and looked to have gone 4-1 up until what looked like being Oli McBurnie's second goal of the game was ruled out for a tight offside against Vinicius Souza.

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That was 82 minutes in, and by the third of 16 added to the game, Fulham had made the score 3-3.

"When you score three goals at home in the Premier League, to only get a draw, that's the disappointing aspect," said Wilder.

"The narrative from everybody – and I get it – was home form, goals conceded, being out of the game after 25 minutes so we had to make sure we did something about it. We had to have a gameplan to give ourselves a foothold in the game and allow our belief to grow, which I think we did.

"We weren't at our most adventurous first half but we had to make sure when we had an opportunity to go forward we were cautious because of what can happen in the Premier League and what can happen when you play the likes of Fulham. We talk about the top sides, they beat Tottenham 3-0 in their last game.

DISAPPOINTMENT: Chris Wilder felt Sheffield United ought to have beaten Fulham on Saturday, but they drew 3-3DISAPPOINTMENT: Chris Wilder felt Sheffield United ought to have beaten Fulham on Saturday, but they drew 3-3
DISAPPOINTMENT: Chris Wilder felt Sheffield United ought to have beaten Fulham on Saturday, but they drew 3-3
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"It was first base reached at half-time. The message in the changing room was we just needed to show a bit more quality, a bit more belief, and enjoy the ball a little bit more.

"They did, and scored three good goals from our point of view.

"But the flipside was yet again another set piece has hurt us, the timing of that was poor and then (they were) two incredible finishes to get something out of the game."

"The timing of the second (Fulham) goal (after 86 minutes) really hurt us and gave them a lift. They took it forward with the introduction of the players onto the pitch and how stretched we were in terms of the changes we had to make.

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"It's something we had to try to deal with and unfortunately in the end we couldn't."

Fans were frustrated that 16 minutes were added to the game and Wilder's refusal to comment – after being fined for his observations after the defeat at Crystal Palace – told its own story.

If Wilder was frustrated, so was his opposite number Marco Silva.

"It was an exciting game for sure for the people who were here," said the former Hull City coach.

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"I have to be honest, it's clearly a disappointing result for us because when you are dominant from the first minute like we were, the team created more chances to win the game and were on the front foot trying to win, it's disappointing.

"Not just because of that, it's the way we conceded the goals.

"These type of games where you are dominant, you cannot be sloppy. The way we conceded a first and the second and even the third, It created a difficult scenario for us.

"(But) the reaction as a team was fantastic. We refused to lose this game."

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