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Sheffield United seize initiative in early promotion race after rivals Leeds United slip up over weekend
The Championship campaign is quickly approaching its halfway point and as things stand, Sheffield United’s push for an instant return to the Premier League is going pretty swimmingly. Friday night’s dramatic statement win over fellow promotion hopefuls Sunderland sent them clear at the top and but for their two-point deduction in the summer, they would be four ahead of second-placed Burnley.
Chris Wilder and Co. were able to put their feet up over the weekend and watch the chasing pack try to respond, with Leeds United slipping up away at Blackburn Rovers to fall to third. Many of Wilder’s young guns are experiencing their first taste of a Championship promotion push, with the exception of his invaluable older heads, but the manager is making no attempt to shield them from the potential prize in front of them this season.
“They see Sky Sports,” Wilder said. “They see [the table] pop up on the right-hand side of the screen, they see they are winning games, and we have to embrace that pressure. Embrace that pressure of being a team that's started the season very well and are deservedly in our position. When we weren't expected to go up in 2019 I said to the players: 'Would you rather be here or halfway up the table?'
“We're 19 games in now and we're coming up to the halfway mark of the season. We've played three quarters if not more of the teams and we know about the teams we haven't played – where maybe Plymouth are going to be pitched and where Cardiff, Burnley and West Brom are going to be pitched. There's too much information about at the minute and I want them to be engrossed in football as well.
“I want them to love football and to come in and go: 'They were good last night,' or: 'They didn't get that result.' I said that one of the teams over this last round of fixtures would drop points, and it happened. We have to accept where we are, enjoy and embrace it and get on with it. I am doing that, and hopefully the players are feeling the same."
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