Sheffield United: Why Chris Wilder thought his Blades were 'outstanding' at Villa Park despite letting three-goal lead slip to draw 3-3 with Aston Villa

Wilder's Blades would have gone top of the Championship with victory at Villa Park, and looked good value for that when Billy Sharp's hat-trick saw them go 3-0 ahead.

But goals in the 81st, 86th and 94th minute of the game from Tyrone Mings, Tammy Abraham and sub Andre Green left United crestfallen as Villa Park exploded with joy.

And Wilder, speaking afterwards in the press room, admitted: "It's difficult to take. We came here, on a Friday night in front of 35,000 fans and the Sky cameras and, especially in the second half, were outstanding.

"We didn't expect to have it all our own way against Villa but for a lot of the gae, it was. We pushed a decent team, with a decent manager and assistant with a lot of experience, back. People might think Villa didn't play well but there was a reason for that - because of my team.

"We just paid the price for individual errors. It wasn't wave after wave of Villa attack and we didn't think 'it's coming here'. If anything I thought we were more likely to make it four. We were comfortable in our shape, we never looked open and looked really solid.

"As a manager sometimes you stand on the touchline and think 'it's coming here' but I never felt that at all.

"To play for Aston Villa you have to be a really good player but all the best players tonight were wearing yellow.

"It's difficult to take when you don't get the result you feel you deserve."