'Their season's done' - Chris Wilder's Sheffield Wednesday jab after Sheffield United victory
Chris Wilder has declared Sheffield Wednesday’s season as ‘done’ after Sheffield United completed a Steel City double.
Wednesday played host to United on Sunday afternoon in another tight local derby, with Rhian Brewster’s only goal being the difference in a 1-0 away victory. The result saw the Blades move back into the Championship’s top two, while the Owls sit in 12th place with eight games left to play.
There were chances at both ends, and Danny Röhl did feel like his side were at least worthy of a draw, but it wasn’t to be and once more Wilder goes home with local bragging rights firmly in his grasp. And he’s pleased to see the turnaround in fortunes between the sides as his boyhood club push for the title.
"It's a great time to be a Sheffield United fan,” he said. “That's what the talk I put to the players today was: You can be part of that journey. We're 31 points clear of the opposition. We haven't done it by just bashing it up to Callum O'Hare and Rhian Brewster.
"We're here to win and we've won another tight Sheffield derby, it hasn't been luck, it hasn't been fortune. We win games of football. We're on 82 points (ignoring a two-point deduction for financial breaches) after 38 games. Sheffield Wednesday are on 51, their season's done. Ours is still alive.
"Those supporters that had bets with Sheffield Wednesday fans in the summer about who will finish higher, I hope they've cashed in and enjoy their winnings. We're 31 points clear of them, that's quite big. We weren't even thinking about going joint top, it was you have the opportunity of winning a Sheffield double. "I enjoy it because I didn't enjoy it for a long time. No Sheffield United fans did.
I was called a Meadowhall League manager
"We were ridiculed. I was called a Meadowhall League manager and Carlos was called a Champions League manager before we beat them 4-2. I got LMA manager of the year (in 2019), I've got five promotions and now we're in the mix with unbelievable opposition at the top of the division. We might not do it but we've put ourselves in a good position.
"When I went for a run at half five, six or whatever daft time it was just to get out of my house and clear my head, all I was thinking about was winning a game of football. We've got a lovely habit, no matter anyone says about how we play. We've won a game of football and the opposition would swap it in a heartbeat to be in our position.
"We haven't done it financially. Someone's been on Transfermarkt and gone 125m, we've earnt the right because of the work we've done over the last six years."
Wednesday now head into the international still chasing a first home victory since New Years Day, and will be hoping to put that right in April when they’re next back at Hillsborough.