Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder reveals his hopes for the club's future

Seventh in the table before the fixture calendar was suspended because of coronavirus and preparing for an FA Cup quarter-final against Arsenal, United have enjoyed a fairytale return to top-flight football after being promoted last year.

Admitting he has told his players not to take their recent results as a sign the club is now established among the game’s elite, Wilder nevertheless insisted he is not satisfied with the prospect of simply treading water or securing survival in the future.

“The big thing is getting a foothold in the division and making sure these great matches we’ve been involved in, like Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea, are annual events.

“I don’t know what next year will bring. We might have a host of injuries. We’ve been fortunate with those but that’s down to a lot of hard work.”

“The division hasn’t intimidated us as many people thought it would,” he added. But it’s important to keep going. I haven’t got a crystal ball. But with the right investment and the fantastic support we’ve got - the fantastic group of players and people - the right ingredients are there.”

After nearly two months in lockdown, United partially reopened their training complex earlier this week; a step taken ahead of tomorrow’s PL meeting, where members are expected to signal they intend to begin staging games again in June subject to government clearance.

“This isn’t going to be a situation like Newcastle, where someone comes in and chucks £300m or £400m at it,” Wilder said, referring to Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund’s proposed takeover at St James’ Park. “But I know the owners here want to take the club forward and that’s been their plan and their vision to me.

“We’ll enjoy what we’ve done this season when it’s over and then look to build on it. We want to keep pushing, not standing still or something else."

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