Sheffield United: Norwich City boss Daniel Farke hails 'brilliant' Blades

Before Thursday night’s setback against Newcastle, the Blades were unbeaten in seven and had impressed in draws against Spurs and Manchester United.

Now Wilder's side will be looking to bounce back when they travel to Norwich City on Sunday.

The Canaries, like United, won promotion from the Championship last season but unlike the Blades have struggled this season due in part to their lengthy injury list.

They sit second-from-bottom and suffered another defeat on Wednesday night when they succumbed 2-1 at fellow strugglers Southampton.

City boss Daniel Farke is an admirer of Wilder’s work and cites United unique tactic of ‘overloading the wings’ as one reason for their impressive start.

“It's quite difficult to defend against,” said Farke, whose injury-hit side have conceded 32 goals going into Sunday’s clash.

But he says there are other factors behind United’s eye-catching return to the Premier League.

“They've spent some money in their offence and this balance is quite a good mix for them, definitely,” he said.

“They are very solid in their defending. When you judge what happens with the promoted team in the last 20 or 30 years, the teams are promoted by relying on good defensive structure.

“I'm full of respect for Chris Wilder's work. They've had a brilliant start to the season. They have been settled at the back and have been able to play with almost the same starting line-up each week.”

That’s a luxury Farke has not been afforded – a fact acknowledged by his United counterpart.

“They’ve suffered quite badly through injuries and their best player has not been available,” said Wilder.

“Daniel can’t do much about that. A lot of their key players have been out and they’ve got a lot of young players as well. You are all looking for that little bit of momentum.

“But there’s still a lot of football to be played and they’ll be looking at our game to be a kick-start and pull in a few clubs above them, us included, because of the nature of the league and how tight it is.”