Chris Wilder's encouraging Sheffield United vow after Man City defeat highlighted Blades' battling qualities

Sheffield United will get stronger in the second half of the Premier League season, manager Chris Wilder has vowed, with priceless time on the training ground and the January transfer window combining to form a huge upcoming period in their unlikely bid for Premier League survival. The Blades entered what they hope will be a memorable 2024 bottom of the table, and seven points adrift of fourth-bottom Everton.

Wilder's return almost a month ago has certainly made them more competitive. Defeats to Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City during his first six games were not a surprise, considering the league table, but many observers would perhaps have expected a team that has been spanked by five or more goals three times already this season to lose by a margin bigger than two goals.

It is a phrase that belonged to Stuart Rayner of our sister 'paper, the Yorkshire Post, but it rings true. United are at least losing better of late - roughly translated to putting up more of a fight rather than meekly surrendering as we saw in the 8-0 shellacking at home to Newcastle United and the 5-0 batterings away at Arsenal and Burnley. That is the harsh reality of where United are in a division of such pounds and power and the safety of no side this season will be defined by their results against the likes of City.

After a breathless period of games Wilder and his staff now have three weeks before United's next league game, with an FA Cup trip to Gillingham on the horizon this weekend, while a combination of the two or three faces he hopes to bring in, and the boost of returning key men including Rhys Norrington-Davies and soon Tom Davies, will bring a freshness to a group hoping to shake off the gloom that has followed them since the new season kicked off back in August.

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"If you asked every Sheffield United supporter over the last six games what they would have taken, it is that the team has fight in them," said Wilder. "Even the most critical of United fans can see that. If you look at my teams, we have always got stronger in the second half of the season. Time has been at a premium and we have to make sure we use this time in January really well to make us better."

As difficult as it may seem at times, Wilder insists that his players must enjoy the challenge in front of them; somehow take pleasure in the "suffering", as he put it, against some of the world's best players and keep coming back for more. As part of the build-up to City, he reinforced the message by reminding some of his players and staff of the journeys they had been on to get to the pinnacle of English football.

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Picking out assistant Alan Knill and coach Jack Lester, as well as Wes Foderingham, George Baldock and Oli McBurnie, Wilder reminded them of where else they could have been playing over the new year period rather than walking out at the Etihad to face the reigning treble-winners and newly-crowned champions of the world.

"We talked about Alfreton and Buxton," Wilder said. "I think Knilly had Farsley Celtic, Wes had Crawley. Jack Lester had Walsall at home, George had Doncaster away and for Oli Mac, we pulled out a Bradford game. Just to show how far they'd come and how hard they'd worked to get to this point. Basically to say: 'Don't let it pass you by.' It's going to be a tough experience.

"Before the game I tried to go positive on the journeys they had. 'Let's embrace it and be positive, even though we knew we were in for a difficult afternoon'. We wanted to pull them six games [of his second spell] together. I told them after Liverpool not to kid me that it was a one-off, and they've not kidded me. They've shown there's life and fight in us, and the biggest thing is they are together. They want to improve and give it a go."