Sheffield United skipper fires warning to his teammates over Middlesbrough and Chris Wilder threat

Boro, managed by legendary former Blades boss Chris Wilder, were soundly beaten 4-1 at Bramall Lane last season, with Wilder bemoaning “a really poor performance” from his side.

But under the management of a boss who led United from League One to the Premier League in just three seasons, before masterminding a ninth-placed finish in the top-flight, Boro are seen as one of the pre-season promotion favourites and Sharp admitted: “It's going to be a great challenge, like it always is.

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“It's always a tough place to go, for different reasons now with our old manager being the manager - he'll want to get one over on us from last season, so we've got to make sure we're prepared and ready to stop their strengths and be ready to play like we have done in spells this season already.

"I thought we were excellent against Millwall. They caused a big threat from set pieces and we nullified that. We'll know Middlesbrough's strengths and weaknesses and it's up to us to exploit them.”

Sharp was on the scoresheet in that game against Boro last season as United went 3-0 ahead, before a rare slip from Wes Foderingham allowed Folarin Balogun to score a tap-in.

A stunner from Morgan Gibbs-White restored United’s three-goal cushion and Wilder waited in the tunnel afterwards to congratulate his former skipper on his performance.

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“It was one of those nights when everything went for us, apart from the slip from Wes,” Sharp added.

“Those two or three minutes was the only time where it looked like we'd lost that momentum but we soon got that back with Morgan's great flicked goal.

"We played really well that night and I also think Middlesbrough were off that night. So we need to make sure we're at the same levels because I'm pretty sure they will play better.”

United have a win and defeat from their opening two league games but Sharp believes it’s too easy to draw any conclusions about the promotion race.

“You've got to take each game as it comes and pick their weaknesses off,” Sharp added, “while making sure your levels are as high as possible.”

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