Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder believes something 'extraordinary' can happen against Man Utd

Wilder’s side prepared for tonight’s match at title-contenders Manchester United 12 points adrift of safety at the bottom of the table, after winning only once in the competition since finishing ninth last term.

Although the 53-year-old is not prepared to admit defeat in the battle to escape the drop just yet, he said: “We have to produce something special to get out of the situation we are in. We need to do something out of the ordinary, when you look at all the statistics of what’s happened in the past. We need to do something extraordinary in fact.

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“Still, I honestly don’t think the lads have always got what they’ve deserved. Roy Hodgson said what was happening to us is an anomaly after we went down to (Crystal) Palace recently and I know other managers are scratching their heads too.

"Seriously, we should have at least eight more (points) on the board but we haven’t, and that’s that.”

With Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side reaching the half way stage of their own campaign in first place, Wilder challenged United’s players to use the situation to their advantage, adding: “We have nothing to lose and we aren’t expected to get anything.

“Regardless of what happens between now and the end of the season, that’s one thing I will be judging the players on - their attitude and their body language. It’s a huge challenge for us to get near these teams. But the biggest thing I’m looking for is that we have an attitude and we have an identity.

“We need to go out there and try to pick up results - for the table and also for our own pride and respectibility.”

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Wilder confirmed United will travel to Old Trafford without nine senior players when he spoke to the media yesterday, with the suspended John Egan joining Sander Berge, Jack O’Connell, Ben Osborn and Oli McBurnie on the absentee’s list.

Lys Mousset could return to action after making progress in his battle to overcome an ankle problem, but the Frenchman was already struggling for fitness following a long spell on the treatment table when he suffered the knock during an FA Cup tie at Bristol Rovers earlier this month.

United return to the North-West at the weekend, facing Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City before meetings withs fellow strugglers West Bromwich Albion and then Chelsea.

“When you are in this division, and we knew, accepted and wanted the challenge when we came in, we also realised the magnitude of it,” Wilder said.

“Some of these teams, they are super clubs. And I don’t just mean super clubs in terms of this country, I mean in terms of Europe and the world too.

"But we haven’t lost our identity, no, because my lads give everything. They always have done. They’ve got to carry on doing that.”

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