The important instruction issued to Sheffield United's players

Unless government guidelines force a rethink, United will spend a week preparing for the 2020/21 Premier League campaign on the continent - with coaching staff planning one or two games against foreign opposition before continuing their friendly programme back home in England.

With the final 11 games of last term squeezed into a five-and-a-half week period, United have taken the decision to concentrate their efforts on ensuring a team which found itself competing for a place in Europe until the penultimate match of the campaign is mentally refreshed when matches resume in September.

“We don’t need much of a pre-season,” Wilder said, after United staged twice daily training sessions during the build-up to the ‘Project Restart’. “It’s unprecedented times and what happened with the lockdown means, I think, that everyone needs to get away from it from a mental point of view. Some, inevitably, will be able to get away from it more than others.

“There won’t be much of a chance for me but I’m comfortable with that.”

The work United undertook during the three month break in the fixture schedule imposed because of the Covid-19 pandemic means much of the time when players report back for duty is likely to focus on tactics and strategy - with new signings needing to learn intricacies of their 3-5-2 system.

“It’s going to be shortened and the players understand, from a physical aspect, what is required in the Premier League,” Wilder said, after leading United to a ninth placed finish in the table. “The distances covered, the high-intensity sprints and the conditioning means there’s a huge responsibility on them to come back in good shape - especially because it’s been shortened.”

“Everything has been structured, organised and set-out for them,” he added. “They have to take it on, the responsibility, which I’m sure they will do because they know the elements required.”

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