Sheffield United’s players urged not to rely on previous efforts by Chris Wilder

Praise has been lavished in the direction of his Blades side from all quarters in 2019-20, but luxuriating in past achievements and pats on the back are something that the Sheffield United manager will not entertain and represents everything he loathes.

A ‘here and now’ manager, Wilder professed to being hurt and upset by his side’s passive performance in a 2-0 defeat, with previous top-flight showings against the likes of Chelsea, Wolves and Tottenham Hotspur counting for nothing in his eyes.

Wilder admitted the visitors’ poor display will have made for a restless night’s sleep on Thursday for him, with the Blades’ strong league position not offering him any solace whatsoever.

The Blades chief, whose side host Everton in their final fixture of the season at Bramall Lane on Monday night, said: “I am not really bothered (about recent performances before Leicester).

“What do you want to talk about Chelsea, Tottenham, Wolves and Arsenal for?

“We need to talk about the performance against Leicester and not points and results and what has happened in the past.

“I am not that type of manager. I am a ‘here and now’ manager who watched his team completely under-perform and I am not going to sugarcoat it and say: ‘well done lads because you were great last week.’

In a season when several United players have been rewarded for their performances by way of contract extensions, Wilder also fired a coded warning in their direction as well alongside others

He continued: “I do not think players are thick. I think they are quite bright and they are quite bright when they want to see you about contracts.

“They are right on the ball for that and other bits and pieces and when they need days off and when they do not.

“They wanted to do their own thing at Leicester and wanted to play individually. They just wanted to do the minimum and we certainly cannot do that as they are basically League One/Championship players playing in the Premier League.”

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