Chris Wilder takes aim at "absolutely ridiculous" situation in Sheffield United's defeat to Burnley
Chris Wilder takes aim at "absolutely ridiculous" situation as Sheffield United's unbeaten record at home punctured by Burnley
Chris Wilder, the Sheffield United manager, took aim at the “absolutely ridiculous” situation that led to Burnley’s second goal at Bramall Lane yesterday as the Blades’ perfect home record was punctured on Boxing Day. The Blades had made their home ground a fortress this season but goals from Josh Brownhill and Zian Flemming earned all three points for the Clarets.
Influential Blades man Harry Souttar was also helped from the field with a serious-looking injury that Wilder admitted “didn’t look great,” while Unitedites’ frustration was also compounded by some curious decision-making from referee Oliver Langford throughout the afternoon. One key moment saw a blatant-looking foul on United’s Callum O’Hare go unpunished at one end and, moments later, the ball was in the United net after Flemming’s volley took a deflection off the unfortunate Sydie Peck.
United had started the second period brightly but that goal took the wind out of their sails. "We talked about our reaction at half-time,” Wilder said. “In the first 10 minutes of the second half, I thought we were on top and against the run of play, we concede through a massive deflection. But the lead up was absolutely ridiculous.
“They get awarded a free-kick on the edge of our box and ours was exactly the same, if not worse, on the edge of their box when Callum O'Hare gets absolutely wiped out. I'm not sure if it was Josh Cullen but if it was, it would have been a second yellow and a red card.”
Asked about the more “streetwise” part of the game, which Burnley managed to close out victory, Wilder added: “I’ve got to say, there’s only one person who can handle that today, and he didn’t. No criticism of anything from me, it’s part and parcel of the game, but there’s only one man who can deal with it and I’ve got to say he didn’t deal with anything very well today, from the first minute until the 94th.
"But I hope people don't go away thinking all of a sudden we're miles behind everyone. We're still massively in the hunt. Burnley are the big winners on paper but I think they're still behind us in the table. That's not me being clever or arrogant ... it shows the work we've done so far and the work we need to do in the second part of the season to be in it going into the last few games."