Chris Wilder says there is still “a long way to go” at Sheffield United’s Dore training ground, with Championship rivals continuing to invest heavily in their facilities.

Sheffield United still have “a long way to go” before they put a spade in the ground at their new training ground at Dore, manager Chris Wilder has admitted, after a fresh video of Stoke City’s facility showed the Blades what they are up against elsewhere in the division. The Potters spent £12m upgrading their Clayton Wood facility earlier this year.

And a fly-through video on social media showed the result, with fresh gym, sports science and recovery facilities alongside a sauna, pool and other amenities. United are still using their Shirecliffe base to prepare for games, which has a slightly more industrial and grounded feel to it.

The plan is still to move to the other end of the city, to the former HSBC Sports site in Dore, to a purpose-built site. Original estimates as to the planned moving-in date have been and gone, with United’s Championship status - and subsequent tightening of belts after losing parachute payments - further delaying the completion.

United’s women’s side are currently using the base and the ultimate plan is for United’s men to make the move, leaving Shirecliffe as a dedicated academy facility and enabling the Blades’ academy to become category one set-up.

Asked about the progress on the Dore site this morning ahead of Sunday’s clash with Wolves, boss Wilder said: “I've got to say, I've not got any answers to that. Apart from designs have gone in, we've looked through it.

“We're excited about that, the plans and the designs and how it's going to look. We've got a top architect to draw those up and we've had an input into the feel of it and the plan. Everybody's excited about that.

“There's still a long way to go, I think, before we put a spade in the ground. The academy is something that we've talked about. We've lent on it for a number of years and we'll have to keep leaning on the academy as well.

“Getting to cat one, getting a new training facility, allowing us to expand, allowing the younger players to play against the top players in the country, are all definitely targets for us. And everybody's keen to move that forward.”

Finishing the site would take a substantial financial investment from United but at a time when so many of their Championship rivals boast state-of-the-art facilities, would mean United don’t get left too far behind - both in terms of developing their existing players and attracting new ones.

“I don't think anybody's ever turned us down on our facilities here,” Wilder added. “We've always got the maximum out of them here and it's been a fabulous place and it's got some brilliant memories for us all.

“But the club moves on. Times are changing and everybody's improving. Everybody's expanding. Everybody's facilities are getting better, like Stoke’s. But we'll do it in line with what we need to do financially.

“And it’ll be good for the young players to have a goal to get up to Dore, from whenever they come to Shirecliffe at a young age and then go up from there.

“So for the players we have, the ones we want to attract, the younger players, for everyone really ... it is really important that we have that facility in place, and we're on the way to securing that.”