"Shut up!" - Chris Wilder's brilliant answer to Sheffield United promotion theory ahead of Bristol City clash
"Shut up!" - Chris Wilder's brilliant answer to Sheffield United promotion theory ahead of play-off history bid
Chris Wilder has promised Sheffield United supporters that his side will attack their two-legged play-off semi-final against Bristol City - and deal with whatever comes next if and when it does. The Blades take on City for a place in the final at Wembley later this month as they look for an instant return to the Premier League after relegation last term.
The Blades won exactly two points per game over the course of the 46-game season but had to settle for third place after Leeds United and Burnley both finished on 100 points to secure automatic promotion. Wilder oversaw a huge turnover of players in the summer after relegation but they have recovered superbly from that blow to launch an instant return bid, with cautious optimism over what could happen if they did get back into the Premier League under their new American owners.
There is another opposing school of thought that United could benefit from another season at Championship level, to strengthen even further ahead of when they eventually return to the top-flight. Asked ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Ashton Gate about that theory, Wilder replied with a big grin: “Shut up and behave!
“When that door opens, you’re not taking that route of not stepping through it. When that door opens, you have to take the opportunity. Because it’s so precious and you have to work so hard to get into that position.
“You have to step through. We’ve got an opportunity to do that. Looking into the future, what will be will be, in terms of the development and the ambition of the football club. But full focus, 100 per cent, is on making sure that if the door does open, we’re ready to step through it and then deal with whatever we have to deal with if that’s the case.”
This will be United’s 10th tilt at the play-offs in the club’s modern history, with no successes so far, but Wilder has some personal fond memories of the end-of-season shootout after leading Oxford United back into the Football League at Wembley back in 2010.
“I’d rather be sat on the beach having achieved something,” he admitted, “but I had a taste of it in 2010 and people always talk about it being the best way to go up. But we've got two unbelievably tough games before we can even start to think about that.
"I've got too much respect for the game and the opposition to think that this is going to be straightforward, because it isn't. We've got to deal with two difficult games against a talented group of players who we've seen here at Bramall Lane, and played two tight games against this season. And I am expecting this to be no different over the next four or five days.
“We're going there to try and get a win and if they need a win coming up the road, then they'll be trying to do that as well. There’ll be no negative approach. We believe we can compete with any team in the division, and our away record has been outstanding."