Aaron Ramsdale is beginning to silence the critics who questioned the wisdom of Sheffield United’s decision to re-sign him from AFC Bournemouth, Chris Wilder has insisted, after watching the goalkeeper make a series of fine saves during his team’s visit to Premier League leaders Manchester City.

Although he was powerless to prevent Gabriel Jesus scoring the only goal of the game early in the first-half, Ramsdale excelled himself to thwart Oleksandr Zinchenko and Aymeric Laporte following the interval. The England under-21 international also produced a fine block to stop Jesus claiming his and City’s second goal of a contest which saw John Fleck go close to snatching a late equaliser.

Accepting that Ramsdale’s form and confidence had been dented by United’s struggles at the beginning of the campaign, Wilder said: “I’m consistent on this. There’s an instant judgement on players these days. I might not like it, but I accept that’s the case. There’s an instant judgement on teams too. Again, I don’t like it but that’s the way it is now.

“You hear people saying ‘He’s a bad signing’ or ‘He’s lost the dressing room.’ You also hear people saying ‘They aren’t playing for each other. It’s all nonsense. We don’t produce performances and run teams like Manchester City so close if even one of those things was true. It just wouldn’t happen, would it.”

Ramsdale, who progressed through United’s youth system before moving to the south coast three years ago, returned to South Yorkshire during the close season. Despite impressing with his shot-stopping ability, some supporters immediately began to express concerns about the youngster’s command of his area while others sent a series of derogatory comments on his social media platforms.

Despite winning four of their last five outings in all competitions en route to the Etihad Stadium, United, who committed to paying around £18m for Ramsdale five months ago, remain at the bottom of the Premier League table ahead of Tuesday’s meeting with fellow strugglers West Bromwich Albion.

“The reason we are in this position is because of things we can’t control and things we could all have done better,” Wilder conceded. “Aaron is a big boy. He understands what football is all about and I’m delighted he made those saves.”