Sheffield United: Chris Wilder reveals who he will be thinking of before The Blades kick-off against Manchester United

The late, great Alan Hodgkinson. A Sheffield United legend and, as Wilder was to discover, a trusted confidant of Sir Alex Ferguson.

"There's an old connection, who lots of people will recognise, and that was Hodgy," Wilder said, explaining how he first made the Scot's acquaintance. "He was a legendary figure here and then, from his career going forward, one of the first goalkeeping coaches who helped Sir Alex bring in Peter Schmeichel. So as we prepare to go in, against Manchester United, I will think of Alan. A few times he put me in contact with him (Ferguson). The same with Jim Smith and Jim Rosenthal, who did all of his interviews and was someone Sir Alex knew he could trust and had his back."

A lifelong United supporter and former Blades player himself, Wilder was already in awe of Hodgkinson's achievements before working with him at Oxford. It was there, during his spell in charge of the former League Cup winners, that he also met Rosenthal and Smith; one of his predecessors in the post. Given their links with Ferguson, who delivered 38 major trophies to Old Trafford before retiring six years ago, it was inevitable the trio would make him aware of Wilder's potential. And, given his reputation for tutoring those further down the pyramid, Ferguson was glad to offer advice. Most notably, Wilder remembered ahead of Sunday's match at Bramall Lane, before one of the most important fixtures in Oxford's history; against York City, at Wembley Stadium, in 2010.

"I even got a call off him (Ferguson) the night before the Conference play-off final," Wilder said. "There was a lot going on, a lot of pressure, and I don't know what would have happened to the club if it hadn't have won and got back in the league that day. I got a call from him in the morning. There he was, winning Premier League titles and everything else, but he took to time to speak to this young manager and I think that shows the class of the man. He took the time to help a lot of us along the way."

"There's a story," Wilder continued, "When I was expecting a call from him but an unknown number came up. I was away with the fairies, in the middle of something else, and the connection wasn't great so I put it down. It rang again, I was pretty aggressive when I answered it because I thought someone was messing around, and it was Sir Alex Ferguson on the other end. So I back-tracked pretty quickly."

Although United have made a fine start to the season, climbing to fifth after being promoted last term, their latest opponents find themselves under scrutiny following an indifferent few months. But after visiting Carrington for a behind closed doors fixture earlier this season, Wilder, who took charge of United when they were still in League One, is under no illusions about the depth of talent at Ole Gunnar Solskjær's disposal.

"We felt, when we got into the Championship, we wanted to expand our relationship with all the top clubs," he said. "Because we felt this was a good place, with pressure and big crowds, for their young players to come before going back.

"We went over there and had a behind closed doors game against them not so long ago. I think our boys were pretty surprised, with the talk about them being in transition, when all these great young kids suddenly came on and were running all over the place when they were shattered."

"Mark Dempsey, who was here when I was making my way as a young boy, is over there with Manchester United too now," Wilder added. "He's not been well and so I wish him all the best. He's been working with Ole."

The relationship United established with Solskjær's employers is a major factor why Dean Henderson returned to South Yorkshire earlier this year after helping them climb out of the second-tier. Although the goalkeeper is prohibited from facing his parent club - centre-half John Egan could also miss out through injury - Wilder today expressed his confidence in Simon Moore, who will deputise for Henderson.

"This is still Manchester United we are playing on Sunday afternoon," Wilder said. "This is still Manchester United, who had Jose (Mourinho) and Sir Alex. We don't want to take a backward step, though. We don't want to take a backward step on Sunday afternoon."