Sheffield United boss hails his players for passing a huge test of character against West Brom

Speaking before second-half goals from Jayden Bogle and Billy Sharp saw United complete a dramatic comeback following Matt Phillips’ opener, Wilder had suggested their hopes of avoiding relegation would effectively be over if they were beaten by Sam Allardyce’s side.

Although his refusal to downplay the significance of the fixture raised eyebrows in some quarters beforehand, Wilder told The Star the situation that United find themselves in means they must be able to perform under pressure.

“I’ve got to say, I don’t get all this pussy footing around players,” he said. “Okay, there might be a time and a place and I don’t always take a sledgehammer to them. But this is where we are and this is the position we are in. This is the division we are in. They have to play under pressure, If they can’t do that, then they’re not going to keep their heads above water at the highest level.”

Despite remaining bottom of the table following Sharp’s winner, United began their preparations for this weekend’s meeting with Chelsea 10 points adrift of safety and only one behind 19th West Brom after producing what Wilder described as a “brave” display.

Like Allardyce, he identified Aaron Ramsdale’s save to deny Callum Robinson a goal against his former club as the “defining moment” of the contest, with Sharp pouncing soon after.

“It’s not about me testing them,” Wilder said, when asked to elaborate on his decision to talk-up the match’s importance. “It’s about me being demanding. I’m their biggest supporter but I’m also a demanding manager. We had a lot of young players out there but, barring one or two things, they came up with ‘men’s’ performances. I’m putting them in that position where they have to produce.”

“We were much more ambitious and braver second-half,” Wilder continued, revealing he had “had a few words” during the interval. “Yes, I read the riot act a little. We had lots of possession but we weren’t hurting them."

Allardyce, who was active in the transfer market before Monday’s deadline, struck a markedly different tone to Wilder; telling his squad it is down to them to haul themselves out of trouble.

“We have done all we can to improve the squad,” he said. “That was my responsibility. We have gone out there, in very difficult circumstances, to bring in quality.

“The club has done all it can to improve the squad. Hopefully, the ones who have come in will lift those already here. We shouldn’t have lost this. We only have ourselves to blame.”

“It went wrong with two incidents when we didn’t deal with the ball correctly,” Allardyce, who recruited Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Robert Snodgrass, Mbaye Diagne and Okay Yokuslu during the winter window, added. “We have players with little Premier League experience and, at this level, you get punished defensively for mistakes that you don’t in the Championship.”

An important message: Thank you for reading this article, one of dozens we publish every single day to provide you with the best, most up-to-date and most informative coverage of YOUR club. This depth of coverage costs, so to help us maintain the high-quality reporting that you are used to from the football team at The Star, please consider taking out a subscription to our new discounted sports-only package. You'll find all the details at https://www.thestar.co.uk/subscriptions/sports. Your support is much appreciated.