WATCH: A striker's finish from defender Richard Stearman... highlights from Sheffield United's 2-1 victory over QPR

Stearman pounced in the opposition penalty area to put the Blades one ahead, and John Lundstram made it 2-0 before Luke Freeman reduced the deficit for the visitors.

Stearman slotted the opening goal from a 27th minute corner, connecting with Leon Clarke's headed flick-on. Conor Washington missed two good chances to level, before Lundstram blasted in the second at the back post, bursting into the box late to reach Billy Sharp's low cross five minutes into the second half.

The Blades, looking comfortable, then allowed Freeman space and he punished them with a driven shot that found the bottom right corner just after the hour. QPR pushed on whilst United continued to drop deeper as they dug deep to hold on.

Wilder said: "I thought we played well. We let them back into the game. I said don't be embarrassed about the players you're playing against.

"To win the game of football tonight is a real good achievement for us and I'm delighted at the way we played. I'm delighted at the end where we had to find a way to see the game out, which we did.

"We would have loved it to have been a lot easier but we're talking Championship football, so I'm not going to be too critical about us winning games at this level of football. We deserved to win tonight, no doubt in my mind.

"I thought the front two were good all night again. I thought Leon (Clarke) was the outstanding player for us, even though he'd loved to have scored. Whether he linked it up or ran down the side, I thought he was great and it was a fantastic performance from him."