Chris Wilder opens up on "difficult" Sheffield United group after player futures admission

Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder has opened up on the challenges of managing what he has described as a “difficult group to deal with” amid the Blades’ slide out of the Premier League. The Blades will play Championship football next season - and start on minus two points - after a horrendous relegation campaign.

The Blades have become the first side in Premier League history to concede 100 goals in 38 games - the only ever side to do so was Swindon Town in 1993/94, over 42 matches - and Wilder’s men still have two to play before they can hopefully consign the experience to history, facing Everton and Tottenham Hotspur.

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A season that has seen heavy pastings against Newcastle, Aston Villa and Arsenal, amongst others, has left mental scars on a fragile group ahead of a big summer rebuild, which will see some of United’s modern-day heroes depart in a bid to freshen things up at Bramall Lane. Saturday’s 3-1 defeat at home to Nottingham Forest was the latest disappointment for Unitedites, with Wilder noting that “a few” of his players “checked out late on.”

“It is a difficult group to deal with,” Wilder added. “Not in terms of giving me sleepless nights, but with where I want the feel of it to be. I understand they've had a really difficult season but every game's an opportunity to reset that and I told them that before. That this game would take care of itself. There'd be 26,000 Sheffield United fans who are bothered about what's happened this season, but will look at this game to put it right. And we had that opportunity and we've not taken it.”

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United could have been four or five goals up against Forest before being pegged back to 1-1, with second-half goals from Ryan Yates and Callum Hudson-Odoi condemning United to a 26th league defeat from 36 games played so far. As many as 18 players, including loanees and out-of-contract players, could walk away at the end of the season as things stand, while at least one high-profile player will be sold to make up the shortfall in revenue between the Premier League and the Championship.

“I'm not looking for excuses but I will say it's a difficult group to deal with,” Wilder added. “And to set the environment and feel that you want to set. I'm a defender and other teams we've had previously were set up to give us something to build from. We don't just want to bash it up to the top of the pitch, so we play in an effective way but we have to make sure we're solid and we get it right in both boxes.

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“But the group consists of some who know that they're not going to be here next year. Out-of-contract ones, a few that don't want to be here and a few we will move on. There's a young group, an injured group that can't really affect the overall team. So there's a lot of moving parts in there but we're doing our best to get them out and play as a team. And for 45 minutes [against Forest] that was a really good team performance.”