Sheffield United ready to go again to achieve play-off ambitions

WHEN it comes to talk of the Championship play-offs, Jake Wright's conviction that Sheffield United will realise their top-six mission is total.
Jake Wright: Confident Blades can last the pace.Jake Wright: Confident Blades can last the pace.
Jake Wright: Confident Blades can last the pace.

After Friday’s narrow FA Cup exit at Leicester City, the Blades will be concentrating solely on league matters, with no distractions in the final third of the season, with experienced defender Wright confident that Chris Wilder’s side have what it takes to seal a play-off spot.

Wright, who captained the side at the King Power Stadium, said: “We have got 15 games left, a big third of the season coming up.

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“In the first third, we were brilliant, we picked up a lot of points. We did not do as well in the second but we can get back to it. We are in a mini-league and, hopefully, we can get into the play-offs.

“We are here now and it is up to us. For me, I expect us to do it. I expect us to win the games we need to take us into the play-offs.

“However many wins it takes, however many points it takes, that is what we want to do. If it takes 10 wins, then okay. If it takes 13, so be it. We have proved that we can go anywhere and take points. We respect teams but we do not fear anyone.

“At the start, we would not have come out and said that because you have got to be careful you do not struggle or go straight back down. But we have proved we can match it with the big boys and that we deserve to be in the play-offs.”

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Wright has landed a watching brief in terms of league action of late, with the 31-year-old’s three appearances this year all arriving in the FA Cup.

Wearing the captain’s armband in the absence of Billy Sharp, an unused substitute at Leicester, was a nice fillip for the centre-back, who produced a typical sound and diligent showing in the heart of the back four.

Wright, whose last league appearance was on November 25, said: “I have been captain a few times here and for a number of years at Oxford. I am disappointed not be playing as many league games as I would have liked recently, but when that happens, you have just got to keep your head down, work hard and do what you can to help the team.”

On Friday’s single-goal cup exit, he added: “When you take a team so close and have good chances, arguably the better chances, it is hard to take positives; immediately anyway.

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“If you lose any game, you are disappointed, especially when you have done so well. If they had outclassed us and won three or four nil then we would not have been disappointed.

“But that did not happen and now we have got to regroup and train right.”