Chris Wilder slams “outrageous” situation as Sheffield United “punished” for cup success after Wolves defeat

Chris Wilder has slammed the “outrageous” schedule Sheffield United and their Championship rivals are contending with as the Blades prepare for another three -game week. United were narrowly edged out 1-0 by Wolves at Bramall Lane yesterday.

That was their seventh match in just over three weeks, with a League Cup tie at Fleetwood Town and a trip to Stoke City to cram in this week before the international break offers some much-needed respite.

The schedule has hit United especially hard given a spate of injuries in key areas, with the absences of Femi Seriki, Tahith Chong and Femi Seriki limiting the options at Wilder’s disposal.

And speaking after the late heartbreak against Wolves, who won the game thanks to Raul Jiminez’s 90th-minute tap-in, Wilder said: “I think every clubin the division, Wolves included, are looking for that consistency. Maybe the only one really is West Ham who frightened everybody to death on Friday night [beating Wrexham 6-0].

“Everybody else is the same. We're all looking for consistency, we're all looking to drop on it, whether that's the late transfer window, the lack of the timing of players being available in the transfer window, the World Cup being involved.

“I think we're all in this period. I've got to say, I think it's outrageous, the schedule that we're having to play in. For everybody. Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday at the start of the season. We're seeing players getting injured, overuse injuries with the way the game has moved forward.

“I played in an era where players were playing 42 games a season for five or six years. The game has moved on but the schedule for everybody is ridiculous. We have a midweek game, Wolves have an advantage of having a free week on us and we get punished for going through to the next round of the cup.

“It's just a ridiculous situation but it's something we have to deal with. We're in a good place. I enjoyed today's performance, I didn't enjoy the result. But we're okay.

“I think there's more to come from the players and there's more to come from the team. There are players coming back after the international break and there's work to be done in that break. But good signs today, minus the obvious.”