What Chelsea boss Frank Lampard said about Sheffield United after his side were destroyed by Blades

Praising United’s tenacity and tactical acumen, Lampard accepted the visitors could have no complaints about either the result or the heaviness of their defeat at Bramall Lane - as the hosts finished the contest sixth in the table.

“Sheffield United had more voice than us, they had more personality,” the former England international said, after watching David McGoldrick goals either side of Oli McBurnie’s fifth of the campaign. “We made mistakes and if you make mistakes against good teams - and Sheffield United are a very good team - then you get punished and you’ll lose games.”

Despite dominating possession, Chelsea proved incapable of prising apart United’s rearguard while Wilder’s men ruthlessly exploited a series of catastrophic defensive errors by the Londoners, who appeared perplexed by the strategy the hosts had devised.

“Sheffield United are a team that play in a certain way and a very unique way,” Lampard said, referring to their pioneering take on the 3-5-2 system. “But if you are not going to compete at the level we should be competing at, then tactics really don’t come into it. We respect Sheffield United and what they do.”

United win took them to sixth in the Premier League table, four points off fifth-placed Manchester United who play Southampton on Monday.