The gauntlet has been thrown down to Sheffield United's defenders

Speaking ahead of Wednesday’s Premier League fixture against Wolverhampton Wanderers, which could see United move to within a point of Nuno Espirito Santo’s sixth-placed side, Wilder insisted the likes of John Egan, Jack O’Connell and Chris Basham must improve their finishing in order to enhance Bramall Lane’s chances of hosting Europa League football.

Egan scored the first top-flight goal of his career during last weekend’s draw at Burnley, which extended United’s unbeaten run to two games following their victory over Tottenham Hotspur.

But with members of their rearguard finding the back of the net on only five occasions so far this term, Wilder believes United are failing to properly exploit the potential of a system which encourages them to push forward.

“From a statistical point of view, we want our defenders to be scoring around eight to 10 goal between them in order to get to where we want to be,” he said. “If we want to push on and build, then that’s what we’ve got to be doing. To be honest, I don’t think it’s a big ask.”

Wilder must decide whether to hand O’Connell his first start since March when Wolves make the journey to South Yorkshire or stick with Jack Robinson, who has performed well in his absence. After being injured as United prepared to return to action last month following the Covid-19 pandemic, O’Connell appeared as a second-half substitute at Turf Moor.

“Goals from defenders, it’s just technique and quality of the finish now,” Wilder, who guided United to promotion last season, said. “That and having the b***s to get on the end of it.

“There’s enough work on the training ground so now it’s up to them, because they get into good positions, to add that clinical aspect to their game. It’s down to individual quality, being nice and calm and picking the right run and the right technique.”

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