Sheffield United manager issues Premier League pledge and issues a plea ahead of the January transfer window

United remained at the foot of the table after losing Saturday’s crucial encounter at The Hawthorns, which saw the visitors miss a series of chances either side of Conor Gallagher’s first-half goal.

With the midfielder’s finish proving enough to settle a predictably nervous game, Wilder’s squad now find themselves preparing for Sunday’s match against Leicester City hoping to avoid a 10th defeat in 11 outings and still without a win since finishing ninth last term.

Although he admitted the odds are now stacked against United, Wilder said: “We’ve got to give ourselves a fighting chance and we don’t want to end up being detached at the bottom.

“Seventeenth place is all we’ve got eyes for, and I think people will understand my realism in that.

“I get that people come out with all sorts of stats, saying that teams with no wins in 10 usually go down. But we have to keep on believing and we do believe.

“We’ve got to get ourselves on a good run, do better than the teams directly above us which we can do, and who knows, one of those even higher up will have a run like the one we are on now? It’s happened in the past and there’s no reason why it won’t happen again.

“But, most importantly, we’ve got to take care of our own business.”

With Ethan Ampadu and Enda Stevens joining Jack O’Connell on the treatment table before the trip to the Midlands, United awarded Kean Bryan his league debut for the club two years after arriving from Manchester City against opponents who, until Gallagher pounced from a 13th minute corner, were also without a win in this season’s competition.

Although Wilder praised the former England youth international’s display, he repeated his desire to see United strengthen their options on the left-hand side of defence when the transfer window reopens after Christmas.

“I’ve made my thoughts on that clear, about what we should have done in the last window,” Wilder said. “But that’s gone now, we have to move on and battle through it.”