Sheffield United: Chris Wilder hails a “proper” Blades performance and atmosphere as his team beats fellow promotion contenders Derby County

Chris Wilder, the Sheffield United manager, hopes his team's performance against Derby County will remove some of the "noise and nonsense" surrounding their ability to sustain a promotion challenge.
Chris Wilder hailed his players' performance against Derby County: Simon Bellis/SportimageChris Wilder hailed his players' performance against Derby County: Simon Bellis/Sportimage
Chris Wilder hailed his players' performance against Derby County: Simon Bellis/Sportimage

Speaking after goals from Billy Sharp, David McGoldrick and substitute Leon Clarke saw them secure a rare win over a fellow top six club, Wilder could not resist the temptation to take a swipe at those critics who have claimed United are destined to fall away during the second-half of the Championship season.

The 51-year-old, whose side climbed to fourth in the table following a hard-fought and at times ill-tempered match, said: "That was a proper Sheffield United performance and, if I can say it, a proper Sheffield United atmosphere.

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"There's been a lot of noise and nonsense spoken about how we are going to fall away. But we deserved that, we deserve to be where we are and hopefully that goes someway towards showing it up for what it is. I thought the drive the lads showed, and the character they produced too, was exceptional.

"I've heard all the stuff about how we couldn't beat another club who was up there. Even though we are where we are.

"They (Derby) are a damn good side and, well, we've just done that. The key now is to keep pushing it on."

Wilder and his opposite number Frank Lampard became embroiled in a touchline spat when, moments after McGoldrick had seen his appeals for a spot-kick ignored by referee Geoff Eltringham, Harry Wilson cancelled-out Sharp's opener.

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Both Lampard and Wilder played down the incident afterwards with the latter, despite insisting it was a "cast iron penalty" and red card for Fikayo Tomori, said: "It was nothing, just two passionate people and two passionate teams who wanted to win. I've got no problems with him (Lampard) whatsoever. That's the way football is at times, it happens."

"I've seen two angles and, if someone is about to head the ball in and then falls over, you have to ask yourself why," he continued. "Players in those situations don't do that."

Lampard, whose side dropped to sixth, also complained about the officials' lack of "clarity" during a fixture Wilder insisted had also brought the best out of United's crowd.

"We don't want this to be an easy place to come," he said, ahead of Saturday's visit of Blackburn Rovers. "And out there, it certainly wasn't. The crowd really ramped it up and got right behind the lads.

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"They're a damn good team with some really good players and their goal was exceptional. We've been speaking in the dressing room and we'd have needed a wall 12 feet high to keep it out. But we answered the question."