Sheffield United v Chesterfield: Blades hitting purple patch at just right time – Wilson

The Blades host new Johnstone’s Paint Trophy winners, Chesterfield, tonight knowing that avoiding defeat will be enough to leapfrog Steel City rivals Wednesday in the table.

Ahead of the all-important run-in, a return to the automatic promotion places would set United up nicely for what seems certain to be a titanic tussle between both Sheffield sides and Huddersfield Town for second spot.

Wilson fully expects the White Rose trio to be battling it out all the way to the final day on May 5.

However, with a 5-2 thrashing of Notts County still fresh in the mind of the Blades chief, he believes his side have what it takes to prevail and book an instant return to the Championship.

“It will be nip and tuck all the way through to the final day,” said Wilson ahead of the Bramall Lane clash with John Sheridan’s Spireites. “And I know my players are ready to go the distance.

“The Notts County result gave us great confidence and it certainly set the benchmark for the rest of the season.

“We feel we are on the front foot at exactly the right part of the season.”

Wilson’s confidence that the Blades can survive amid the pressure cooker atmosphere of a promotion battle is shared by defender Neill Collins, who was part of the Leeds United squad that held off several late challenges from rivals to claim second place in 2010. He said: “The pressure is nothing new to us, it is on us every week. That doesn’t change.

“But we are all looking forward to the challenge as we go into the final strait.

“We know we are expected to win and put on a performance but that has always been the case for us.

“So far, the boys have handled that excellently this season and the more the weeks go by, the easier that pressure is to handle.

“We don’t go into games nervous because of the expectation on us.

“We take it in our stride and just go out to try and always do the same things from one game to the next.

“Another reason why we can deal with the pressure is we know that the manager puts his trust in us and let’s us play and express ourselves out on the pitch.”

United have no fresh injury problems after a blank weekend caused by Chesterfield being otherwise engaged in winning at Wembley on Sunday, something that Wilson believes will make the visitors difficult opponents tonight.

He said: “We have to be mindful that they will not only buoyed by the confidence of the result they got at Wembley but also because they come to Bramall Lane knowing the focus is fully on us.

“They can come to our place with no fear because anything they get will be a bonus.

“So we really need to be fully focused on getting at them right from the word go.”

Last six games: Sheffield United LWWDDW, Chesterfield WDDDLW.

Referee: S Hooper (Wiltshire).

Last time: Sheffield United 3 Chesterfield 1; August 14, 2007 League Cup.