Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder's blunt answer to potential Sheffield Wednesday relegation question
Chris Wilder has spoken to the media ahead of Sheffield United’s derby clash with Sheffield Wednesday at Bramall Lane on Sunday
Chris Wilder, the Sheffield United manager, has insisted that the thought of the Blades potentially sealing their rivals Wednesday's relegation to League One this weekend hasn’t entered his head.
If a certain set of results happen on Saturday, United can hammer the final nail into the Owls' coffin.
Wednesday may have to win at Bramall Lane on Sunday to stave off confirmation of relegation for another few days, but their fate has long since been sealed after a season of shambles. They have been deducted 18 points by the EFL, still stand on minus seven and have won only once this season.
The final humiliation would be official relegation at the home of their most bitter rivals, despite protestations from sections of the Owls fanbase, with the Blades looking for three more points to boost their bid to surge up the table.
What Chris Wilder said about potential Sheffield Wednesday relegation
But speaking at his pre-match press conference this morning, Wilder insisted: "That's got absolutely nothing to do with me. That's not in my thought process at all. My thought process is winning the next game of football at Championship level. And we know how hard it is to do that.
"There's not a 'they've got this or haven't got that' situation in my thought process. We've done possibly as much preparation on this game as any game all season and the majority if not all of the games last season, apart from the play-off final.
"So full focus on us. We understand the threats that the opposition might pose. We don't know how they are going to set up. Are they going to come for us, are they going to sit in? We'll only know at 12 o'clock but we've got complete respect for Henrik [Pedersen] and a group of players.
"The feel and the talk is that it's a mismatch, a gimme. Whether it's bookies odds, the narrative from Sky or anyone else. And football just doesn't work like that. We've done a presentation on that to the players. They understand it emotionally. I've said to them it's never just another game.
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"Carlos Carvalhal taught me that lesson a few years ago. It isn't just another game and the players understand that. But they also have to play with a discipline and a control as well as an enthusiasm and desire to win a game of football. To win a local derby and to get us another three points and gain some momentum and some consistency in our results."
Wilder points to Man City example ahead of Sheffield derby
There is a school of thought amongst Unitedites that this is the time to take advantage of their rivals' plight and record the type of win that will go down in history, potentially avenging the 4-0 Owls victory on Boxing Day in 1979 that Owls fans still revel in almost a century on.
"I just don't get it," Wilder responded. "What's a resounding win? We've had games against Man City here when I think it took until the 91st or 92nd minute for Man City to beat Sheffield United.
"Man City at the time, if they weren't world club champions they were on the way to being it. The game doesn't work like that. We put a slide up about Macclesfield versus Crystal Palace, we put a slide up about Bodø/Glimt versus Man City.
"There's all sorts of examples recently, let alone going into the last 100 years plus of football and whatever. The game doesn't get decided on team sheets, doesn't get decided on current form.
“Would I rather be in our changing room than their changing room at this particular moment? Yeah, I would. Of course, I should imagine everybody would. They possibly would too, with the players that we've got and the form that we've shown over the last 15 games.
"But the game doesn't work like that and there's so many things that you can't control. There are also so many things you can control and we're 100 per cent on the 'can control' view."
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