Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder delivers a chilling message to his players ahead of Everton clash

Wilder made no attempt to disguise his displeasure with United’s display during Thursday’s defeat by Leicester City, describing it as “substandard” and accusing the visitors of lacking “the same fight” as Brendan Rodgers’ team.

Although he has been criticised for publicly holding United’s squad to account in the past - some former professionals believe managers should refrain from speaking in such terms outside of the dressing room - Wilder told The Star he doesn’t subscribe to the theory that footballers should be exempt from censure.

“There’s all sorts of types of approach,” he said. “I’m pretty much one for knowing what I’ve seen and saying it.

“I can’t sugar coat it and I won’t sugar coat it. In the past, I’ve left things like this. But what’s the point?

“Everyone knows what they saw. Everyone will have their own opinion on it. Mine was that it wasn’t good enough. Nowhere near good enough. And if you’re ready to take praise, which these boys have deservedly had a lot of recently, then as far as I’m concerned you’ve got to be prepared for the other side of it as well.”

United spurned the opportunity to leapfrog sixth-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers when, less than a week after humbling Chelsea 3-0, they limply succumbed in the east Midlands. With two points separating them from Nune Espirito Santo’s squad, Wilder hopes his reaction to events at the King Power Stadium will provoke a response when United contest the penultimate match of their season next week.

“It’s up to them, the players, to show what they can do,” he said. “They fell short, well short, against Leicester and so they’ve got to go out there and put it right.”

"Only they can do that," Wilder added. "We can prepare them all they want but if you're happy to go out there and look as if you only want to do the bare minimum then, as far as I'm concerned, the rest doesn't matter."

An important message: Thank you for reading this story. The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on our advertisers and thus our revenues. The Star is more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription to support our journalism. You can subscribe here for unlimited access to Sheffield news and information online. Every subscription helps us continue providing trusted, local journalism and campaign on your behalf for our city. Once again, thank you. James.