Sunderland v Sheffield United: Max Lowe confident Blades have the experience to get automatic promotion job done

Part of it comes from the quality of players around the dressing room, part of it from having been down this road before.

So whilst some supporters are getting understandably twitchy ahead of a tricky-looking trip to Sunderland, the wing-back is not.

"There's no doubt in my head that we're going to bottle it or not perform," he says, confronting the issue head on. "There's not been a whisper of that."

One of Sheffield United's big strengths is that so many of this squad have won promotion to the Premier League before.

Most did it with the Blades in 2019, but Lowe did it with Nottingham Forest last season. That taught the 25-year-old not to get flustered by the slings and arrows of fortune.

"Must-win game" has become one of those phrases totally devalued both by the media and footballers. Wednesday at the Stadium of Light is not a must-win game, just an it-would-really-help-if-you-did-win game.

If the Blades lose or even draw on Wearside it will be a psychological blow in a battle becoming much more hard-fought than it looked like being but not a killer one. Come what may, there will be a chance to make up for it when the Championship resumes in April after the international break.

Ten months ago, Lowe was on loan at Forest when they had a "must-win" game at Bournemouth.

Anything less than three points and third-placed Forest would miss automatic promotion. The Cherries won, through a Kieffer Moore goal, and the top two were inked in.

It could have been a disaster had Forest let it.

"It wasn't an upset, we just thought we'd go through the play-offs, then (squeezing past Sheffield United on penalties before defeating Huddersfield Town at Wembley)," says Lowe.

"That gives me confidence because personally I've come out on the better side of it. I have belief in the squad that we're going to do the same here.

"We've got to take it game by game and not get too disheartened by results or look at how other teams are doing.

"I feel like if we perform, we'll get the results."

That sort of positivity has been order of the day at Shirecliffe since Saturday's 1-0 defeat to Luton Town.

"On Monday morning lads were trying to be really positive when people were coming into the building because you don't want it to linger," says Lowe.

"Some of the senior lads just said, 'Look at the week we've got ahead of us and the fixtures. it's a great opportunity for us.'

"The gaffer says his piece but he didn't really need to because we know what we're about and what we can do.

"If you want to get to where you want to be in the game as an individual and a team you have to hold your own.

"We've definitely got players in the dressing room who can help us go in the right direction.

"There's times in a game when you're under it and I've got Jack Robinson next to me, (John) Egan at the back, Wes (Foderingham) in goal, Sharpy (Billy Sharp), names throughout the team who you know they're going to have your back and it makes you a bit more comfortable and confident in the process."

Not that positivity is allowed to become delusion.

"We know we're better than we have been recently," admits Lowe. "It's just the consistency hasn't been there. We feel like we'll get going again and then we'll lose, it's up and down.

"It's hard to get a really good run of wins in this league and we know that but we also know we're capable of doing it. We know whoever's picked is more than capable of going out there and holding their own.

"You're a special team if you don't have some sort of blip, whether it be injuries or performances. You're not waiting for it but you're not surprised by it.

"We're not surprised, we're not getting anxious or nervy before games, we're still confident, we just need to get back to those standards.

"We've looked at games from the past and compared them to now and we know what the differences are."

Manager Paul Heckingbottom's take is his team needs to play with more freedom."It's proven it's worked," argues Lowe. "At the start of the season we were running over teams and even at Christmas we were still playing with that intensity.

"Particularly against Luton it dropped for some reason. It's hard for us to put a finger on why.

"I think it's more mentality and just getting back to simplifying the game and doing the first bit simple, then expressing yourselves, not holding anything back, because we've got some great individuals in the team who can win us any game.

"It gives us real confidence going into any game that we can win three points."

Confidence and calmness – two strengths the Blades will need in their final 10 league matches.