Getting the win more important than my 100th goal, says Sheffield United hero David McGoldrick

The Blades stand just one victory from clinching a return to the top flight after 12 years away.

Already relegated Ipswich Town head to Bramall Lane this Saturday tea-time for a game McGoldrick, who took his goal tally for the season to 15 with a first-half double in Monday’s 3-0 win at Hull City, insists United will not treat differently to any other game.

“It was a nice way to bring up the 100,” said the 31-year-old, whose second strike at the KCOM Stadium brought up his century. “It is something I haven’t really thought about lately because of everything else but it is something I am pleased to say I have done.

“The main thing, though, is the group – and getting the win we needed and wanted. That comes before anything else and that is how we are. The lads who have come in are doing brilliantly. That shows how important the group is and how everyone has bought in.”

United’s back-to-back wins over Easter saw what had been a three-point deficit to Leeds United transformed into a three-point advantage.

With the Blades also boasting a goal difference that is 11 better off than their rivals from Elland Road, the gap is effectively four points with just six still up for grabs.

Tantalisingly, Norwich City are also now within striking distance after drawing their last four games. Just three points separate Wilder’s United from the Canaries, and the two clubs’ respective goal differences are just one apart.

This has opened up the possibility of the second tier title coming to the Lane for the first time in 66 years.

McGoldrick, for his part, is merely focusing on the upcoming game with Ipswich.

“Hull was a tough game but I thought we were clinical and focused,” said the striker, signed on a free transfer last summer following his release by the Portman Road outfit.

“That is all we were concentrating on, seriously. Nothing else. There is work to do.

“The only thing now is the next game. Making sure we do the same. What we have done to this point, there is no point in changing. That is what the manager has told us.

“Just carry on doing what we have been doing. Really, that’s all. We are not thinking about anything or anyone else.”

Having spent much of the season as the perfect foil for top-scorer Billy Sharp, McGoldrick has stepped onto centre stage in the past week.

In the Good Friday victory over Nottingham Forest, he elicited the foul by Yohan Benalouane that earned the defender a red card that helped turn the game the way of the hosts.

Then, with Sharp again absent with a hamstring injury, McGoldrick netted twice in the opening quarter at Hull.

“He leads the line and works extremely hard,” said Wilder about a striker whose 15 goals have come in 13 league games this term, a dozen of which have been won by the Blades.

“Against Hull, he was outstanding with the ball. I said after Friday’s game that to lose Billy – an integral part of our success over the past two-and-a-half years – meant we needed others to stand up and step into his role.

“By that, I do not just mean on the pitch. I mean the changing room before the game, in the prep(aration) at the hotel and he has definitely done that.

“He looks to be enjoying his football. He looks to be enjoying the way we play. I enjoy working with him. An outstanding lad and a fabulous player.”

United will continue to monitor Sharp’s fitness ahead of the final two games against Ipswich and Stoke City.