'Uber-ultra-positive' Chris Wilder confident Sheffield United can end 100 years of Wembley pain
If Sheffield United want to win promotion they'll have to do it the hard way.
Chris Wilder has reiterated his ‘uber-ultra-positive’ stance on Sheffield United’s promotion opportunity as they look to put an end to the club’s play-off hoodoo.
Deflation was the overriding emotion 10 days ago as United fell to a fourth defeat in five at Burnley, a result which mathematically ended their automatic promotion hopes as the Clarets and Leeds United pulled clear. The Blades went into April top of the Championship and flying, but their month ended yesterday in third and this month it’s the play-offs.
A run of four defeats in six is not promotion-winning form but since their week-long collapse, United have won two of their last three and victory over Blackburn Rovers on Saturday would continue that positive trend, replacing deflation with growing optimism. And it’s that positive outlook Wilder is hoping to harness.
“Well, absolutely, 100 per cent [the play-offs are something to look forward to],” Wilder insisted, speaking at The Star Football Awards. “I’ve talked about 2016, six years in League One, nobody thought we'd get out of that. We did that. We talked about getting into the Championship and getting a foothold in that division. We had a foothold for two seasons, the second season resulted in promotion. Then we finished ninth [in the Premier League].
“It's only, and I’m not being critical, it's only the supporters that sort of bring this stuff up, because all of us are uber-ultra-positive in terms of what we can achieve. We’ll finish 20 points clear of the team that finishes in sixth place. I'm not a mug, and we don't take anything for granted, we respect everybody we play, but we're in a good place. Everybody's fit, everybody's healthy, everybody's raring to go. They know that they can achieve something incredibly special.”
Chris Wilder hoping to make Sheffield United history this month
United have failed in all of their eight attempts at promotion via this route, with the recent slump in form only strengthening a feeling of more inevitable heartbreak among supporters. But ever since the play-offs were confirmed, Wilder has been at pains to highlight this season's successes, with 91 points won leaving them as strong favourites to join Leeds and Burnley in the Premier League.
“It's 100 years since we last played in a winning team at Wembley,” the Blades boss added. “We're incredibly positive in terms of what we can achieve. And it's all to play for. We've got to do a lot of good things over the next three or four weeks, but we're positive and we're confident that we can achieve that. Ultimately, we've not achieved what we wanted to achieve, but we've not finished on 74 points or 75 points. We've not finished on 50 points. We've not finished on 30 points. We're going to finish on 90-odd points, which is an incredible achievement.
“But it's not enough for us because we want to be in that Premier League, and this guy [Gus Hamer] and the other guys are going to do their absolute everything to hopefully achieve it. And it will happen. I've said before, the club's going to be here for the next 150 years. It's been here for the last 150 years, and we will win a playoff campaign. Why can't it be 2025?”
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