'Does Chris Wilder want to carry on?' - Warnock delivers verdict on Sheffield United plight

United have endured a miserable start to their top flight campaign, and are currently rooted to the foot of the table after taking two points from their opening 15 matches.

A narrow 1-0 defeat to Everton on Boxing Day left Wilder’s men 11 points adrift of 17th-placed Burnley, with the two sides set to meet at Turf Moor on Tuesday evening.

And while Warnock has made it clear that he believes the Blades must stick with the 53-year-old despite their slow start, he has also suggested that Wilder himself could take the decision to walk away from the club if he feels that it boosts their chances of survival.

Speaking on Sky Sports’ Football Show, the pundit said: “The big thing is that Chris Wilder’s a Sheffield United fan – he understands the club. He’s got the best interests of the club at heart.

"For me, the players that he’s brought in are Championship players as well. When I look at a lot of the players, there’s almost an ability where if they do go down, they know they can come straight back up.

"The big question for me is ‘Does Chris Wilder want to carry on?’. I still think he does, but I think there’ll be a point where he actually does question what he’s bringing to the football club.

“I hope he doesn’t, because he has been outstanding since he’s been at the club, but does he look at it and think, ‘Can someone else keep Sheffield United in the league?’.

"He definitely deserves time to turn things round, but I just hope that the players still believe in him as well.

"When you’re on that run at the bottom and things aren’t quite going well for you, questions get asked about yourself, your teammates, the manager, and you’ve got to be strong enough to put all of that to one side and believe in the process of getting out of the trouble that you’re in.”