Sheffield United v Stoke City: Chris Wilder on making relationships 'a bit better' in the final third - and no 'mind games' with Leeds United

Sheffield United count themselves among that number and so do their previous two opponents in Leeds and Middlesbrough and their next one in Stoke.

And what about Sunderland, West Brom, Norwich, Coventry, Blackburn? Not to mention United’s neighbours from across town. Easier said than done..

The arrival of Stoke, who recently appointed their sixth manager since dropping down from the big time in 2017-18 and have not finished higher than 14th since is a reminder of how onerous the task actually is.

More especially if you happen to still be at this level when the parachute money dries up or is catered for and your attempt at a quick fix has failed. Given a fluid takeover situation, United are not afforded that particular luxury regarding ‘parachutes’ as yet.

For most of the aspirants, it takes time, planning over transfer windows and other variables, including luck.

United are well placed in fifth spot ahead of today’s game. Given the upheaval on the playing side since the close season, most football observers would constitute that to be a pretty good effort, all things considered.

Given where the playing side of the club is at, in terms of the time it takes to effectively build a new side and incorporate a new style of play, there’s an argument to say that the Blades are ahead of schedule.

It has not stopped a great deal of opprobrium arriving on social media following back-to-back losses at Elland Road and the Riverside Stadium.

Wilder said: "I talked about the (Leeds) CEO (Angus Kinnear) making a statement about Leeds United. That was fact and not fictional and me trying to wind anybody up or play any games. I can’t play mind games when someone has got more ammunition than you.

"We can’t compete with that club when it has got the biggest wage bill, as he quoted, in the history of Championship football.

"We didn’t have that conversation in the summer of ‘well, we’ll keep everybody, but might lose one and make a couple of loan and smart signings’ and go again. It was a huge change around.

"It’s not trying to take the expectation level off us. We should still be up there and want and need to be. I’m not saying we need to consolidate and be in the Championship for three or four years. We need to try and get up as quickly as possible.

"That’s the pressure I put on myself and the players do and we put it on the players and the club put on the team - and fans do. We have to accept and deal with it.

"I’d like to think that people who know their football understand that and we’ll keep working away and if the door opens this year, we have to be ready to step through it like in the previous (times)."

In terms of ticks in the box so far this season, United’s defensive record is perhaps the biggest.

Despite arriving a few weeks into the season, Michael Cooper has the joint highest number of clean sheets already (six) and only Burnley have conceded fewer goals, with United’s scorecard hit by the last two results.

The foundations look fairly secure. It is the connections at the top end of the pitch which will - and plainly are - taking longer to get firmly established.

United have scored 12 times in 11 league games. Self-evidently, that is something that will need to be addressed if they are to last the course.

Wilder, who must contend with being without the suspended Gus Hamer this afternoon, continued: “We’ve had an incredible defensive record which has been talked about with clean sheets on the spin. It’s one of the best defensive records in Europe. I know it’s relative to our division, but it's one of the best.

"It’s always harder to create and finish. We created enough on Wednesday night, but didn’t finish off those final bits. We’d like to create more.

"We have to connect and be better at the top of the pitch and a bit more clinical and get relationships a bit better.

"But there’s good signs, I thought Jez (Jesurun Rak-Sakyi) was really good on Wednesday. Rhian (Brewster) came in and playing a full 90 minutes is great.

"We’re after a little bit more from a few others. They understand that and are a little bit frustrated at the moment.

"But I'm glad they are frustrated and understand they can do better just as much as I understand they can. But we’ll get there."