Luton Town v Sheffield United: Chris Wilder desperate to restore pride to Blades

Facing up to the task of staying afloat in the richest league in the world with a very inexperienced squad was always going to bring challenging periods.

But Sheffield United fans would be forgiven for thinking it has been a little too chastening.

For all the excitement of playing at and against some of the biggest clubs in the world it soon dissipates when you are getting pumped 8-0 by Newcastle United at home and 5-0 at Arsenal.

A lot of those fans had lost their enthusiasm after half an hour of last Saturday teatime’s appointment with a free-flowing Aston Villa, headed for the exits as Youri Tielemans smacked in a fourth goal without reply.

It prompted a week of soul-searching at the Blades’ Shirecliffe base for the players and their manager, Chris Wilder.

The man who introduced over-lapping centre-backs to the Premier League five years ago as United stormed to a ninth-place finish, has inherited more of a firefighting role on his return to the Bramall Lane dugout. The amount of uncontrollable fires still raging were plain for all to see last Saturday night.

But Wilder is a fighter, and loves nothing more than proving people wrong.

Pundits and ex-pros have been quick to judge following a run of just one win in 10 Premier League games since he succeeded Paul Heckingbottom in early December, and only one prior to that. But the proud Bladesman is ready for the fight.

And what better place to start hitting back than at Luton Town, a team promoted with the Blades who in the same 10-game span in which United have taken just five points, have claimed 14 of their own to move 10 points clear of the South Yorkshire side and into 17th place.

“I’ve experienced defeats like this before. I think it really galvanises you,” said Wilder of the effects of Saturday’s mauling by Villa.

“I’m not saying you take your eyes off the ball when there is that win, but when there is that opinion or noise I think it does give you a bit of a dig in the ribs to say: ‘okay, game on, the fight’s on’. We understand it was going to be a big fight anyway, but you have to show what you’re about and I’ve shown that to the players. It’s easy when the sun’s shining and the game’s flowing, but this is the difficult part now, when it’s a difficult to see that pass, that tackle, that shape or make that decision.

“These are the times now that it’s really difficult. As an individual or as a group you go one way or the other – you just saunter off into the background or you come through this period. I’m sure you all know how I and the coaches will approach that and I back myself to the hilt. Hopefully the players will follow that lead as well.

“There will be better times ahead, I’m sure of it, but we have to focus on the immediate future which is restoring a bit of pride and a bit of faith with a performance on Saturday.”

He has a long-term vision for how he wants United to play, but appreciates that has to be put on the back burner as they attempt to extricate themselves from the current predicament.

In the long-term future, he sees reason for hope.

“We have to bring an identity back, I’m not saying it’s completely shifted,” he said.

“These times don’t last forever. We’re in an incredibly tough environment but we spent three out of the last five years in the Premier League, the other two getting out of the Championship and being in the play-offs.

“Off the pitch things are happening and there’ll be some positive news coming out. Everybody focuses on that result at 5pm and the league position, I get that.

“But I do believe there will be better days to come.”

He added: “As for right now we have to take ownership, we have to be better. The only way you can iron out your deficiencies short and medium term is by working hard on the training ground.

“So we’ve done that this week, we’ve simplified a lot of things, we’ve done video analysis on certain things. We’ve even looked at things we’ve done well in this period, because there are things and we have to maintain that.

“You can’t dismiss it, you’ve got to own it, it can’t stay with you forever.

“The only way you get over it is by getting a big performance and a big result on Saturday.”