Why Sheffield United must embrace Sunderland play-off pain as rivals Leeds United set example to follow

Speaking not long after Sheffield United’s promotion hopes went up in smoke against Sunderland, the pain was evident in Tyrese Campbell’s voice. But already thoughts had turned to next season, and the importance of using the pain of yet more disappointment under the Wembley arch to go one better next time out.

United’s top scorer had earlier put his side on course for the Premier League after a lovely chipped finish following superb work from Gustavo Hamer, with United holding onto their lead until 15 minutes from time when Eliezer Mayenda dragged the Black Cats level.

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They then went on to find a late winner through Tommy Watson in the 95th minute, sentencing United to another season in the Championship in the cruellest of fashions. As boss Chris Wilder admitted, the defeat would take a lot of time to get over but United have got to use the pain as a positive, and look to follow the example of their Yorkshire rivals Leeds United.

They, too, finished the regular season on 90 points in their first season back in the division after being relegated and lost in the play-off final, before becoming roaring back this time around and winning the title with 10 points more.

“We gave it our all, but we didn’t win,” said a dejected Campbell, speaking to Radio Sheffield in the bowels of Wembley Stadium. “We’ve got to be proud of what we did this season, rest, recover and next season, take those emotions and that pain and put it into how we play.

“The goals came out of nowhere, really. It just hurts that little bit more, because if we don’t make those little mistakes, we don’t concede. We’re a team that have won 1-0 many times before this season but today just wasn’t meant to be.

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“It’s the play-off final, it’s Wembley. Crazy things happen here. They had to come out and try to win, and fair play to them. They did that, so congratulations to them. I felt we deserved to win but it is what it is, football’s football and it doesn’t always work out like you want it to.”

Some players will now inevitably take different paths in their careers from this point, with Hamer expected to be a player in demand while the likes of Vini Souza and Anel Ahmedhodzic may attract attention from elsewhere. But those who remain at Bramall Lane can use the feeling they were suffering at full-time at Wembley to go one better next term.

Sheffield United players set big challenge after play-off pain against Sunderland

“It hurts for everyone,” said Campbell, when asked what the message was from boss Wilder after the game. “Sort of focus that pain on good things, move on in the summer. Recharge, reset and come back hungrier for the new season.

“There are many things, setbacks this year that we’ve used for fuel. We had a crazy week where we lost a few games and ultimately led to us not going up automatically. But we used that as fuel for the rest of the games and the play-offs and you could see that in our performances. We’ve just got to use it now as motivation.”