Sheffield United's John Egan provides an important reminder for his team mates

Chris Wilder’s side enters tonight’s match at Burnley at the bottom of the Premier League table and 11 points adrift of safety after failing to win a game so far this term.

With Sean Dyche’s side in 17th place and also fighting for survival, Egan believes a victory could prove the catalyst for what would be a remarkable march to safety after insisting United’s results do not reflect their performances.

“It’s difficult for everyone in there,” the centre-half said. “We’re a changing room who have been used to winning games for the last few years and when we’re going through a tough patch it’s up tp me and all the senior players - Billy (Sharp), Jags (Phil Jagielka), Bash (Chris Basham) and others - to keep trying to lead and set good examples around the place. The bottom line is we’re going through tough periods and we’re not getting results.”

“We’re not a million miles away,” Egan continued. “We keep saying that every week though, that we’ve been in a tight game, but we’re under no illusions that we have to start turning those tight games into results and that has to happen at Burnley.”

Egan, who wears the captain’s armband in Sharp’s absence, highlighted Boxing Day’s defeat by Everton as an example of how small mistakes rather than systemic faults are undermining United’s campaign. The contest appeared to be heading for a draw, until a lapse in concentration presented Gylfi Sigurdsson with the chance to score in the 80th minute and lift Carlo Ancelotti’s team into second.

“Everybody has to step up and different people have to lead in different ways,” Egan said. “Even the young lads, they’re all leading by example - that’s never in question in our dressing room. You can see we are giving it everything in every game. I just don’t think we’re showing the quality we can at the moment.”

“Everybody always gives 100 per cent here and if you don’t, there’s no point in playing football,” he added. “But with the fine margins in this league, against top quality teams, you need to be on it every single minute every single week. We’re getting caught with lapses of concentration and it’s hurting us.”

United will hand late fitness tests to centre-forwards Oli McBurnie (shoulder) and Oliver Burke (back) before naming their starting eleven for the trip to Lancashire. Jack O’Connell, Sander Berge and Kean Bryan are definitely ruled-out, while John Lundstram serves the second of a two match ban following his sending-off at Brighton and Hove Albion earlier this month.

Egan said: “You have to look forward to the next game, the next game is all that matters. What's happened you can't change and you can only affect what will happen in the future when it comes to it so game by game, day by day we just have to improve as a team and as players.”

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