Chris Wilder has overseen a gradual improvement since returning to Sheffield United in September.

Manager Chris Wilder has said Sheffield United have restored the connection between the team and their supporters, suggesting he believes the fans recognise the improvements his team has made as the season has developed.

Wilder made the admission after watching his side suffer a narrow 1-0 defeat to Charlton Athletic at The Valley on Saturday afternoon. United played the whole of the second half with nine men after having Djibril Soumaré and Japhet Tanganga sent off during the first half.

Prior to losing the duo to straight red cards just 12 minutes apart, United had dominated proceedings in the capital, creating a plethora of chances, of which some really ought to have been taken.

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The Addicks capitalised on their numerical advantage right at the start of the second half, scoring the winner via Sonny Carey, meaning United’s hopes of extending their winning run to three Championship matches were dashed.

With the dismissals of Soumaré and Tanganga having direct impacts on the outcome, Wilder looked to the positives, choosing to hail his players for the way they had performed prior to the red cards. And having started his third stint as Blades boss with a 1-0 defeat to Charlton at Bramall Lane back in September, the United boss wanted to highlight just how far his team has developed since that afternoon.

Wilder opens up on United’s progress

“It is an incredibly difficult and funny day to digest, really,” Wilder told BBC Radio Sheffield. “I have just said that as well to the players.

“I have managed over 300 games at this football club and that is right up there in terms of how I feel about this football club, how I’ve always felt about this football club and how our supporters feel about our players and how our players feel about our supporters because there was zero connection at the start of the season. Zero.

“You can see now there is an unbelievable connection because the supporters are seeing that this team, this group of players, are giving absolutely everything. I don’t always get it right. I don’t always get it right in selection.

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“Maybe I should have gone with a stronger team last week [vs Mansfield Town]. I don’t always get it right in terms of situations like last week when we conceded some really poor goals. We have also conceded some poor goals that have cost us.

“But obviously we are working on the job as we have done. We are a completely different team to the one that Charlton scored in the 90th-minute against and beat us in my first game back.”