10th time lucky for Blades? | OneFootball

Sheffield United head to Ashton Gate for the first leg of their Championship play-off semi-final against Bristol City tonight, determined to shed an unwanted label as the EFL’s perennial nearly men.

The Blades have the unenviable record of losing all nine of their previous play-off campaigns - a streak that spans both League One and the Championship - making them statistically the least successful team in EFL play-off history.

Only Huddersfield Town, Brentford, and Preston North End have racked up more EFL play-off appearances (10 each), and all three of those teams have at least one promotion to show for their efforts. United, on the other hand, have reached four finals - and lost every single one without finding the back of the net.

But manager Chris Wilder insists his side is not weighed down by history as they look to finally break the cycle.

“There's negativity in football right the way through, isn't there? In everything, whatever club you're at,” said Wilder. “So everybody has to deal with that, but there's no negativity in this group.”

“I’d rather be sat on the beach having achieved something, but I had a taste of it in 2010 and people always talk about it being the best way to go up,” he said. “But we've got two unbelievably tough games before we can even start to think about that.”

“We're going there to try and get a win and if they need a win coming up the road, then they'll be trying to do that as well.

"There’ll be no negative approach,” he added. “We believe we can compete with any team in the division, and our away record has been outstanding.”

Sheffield United's record in play-offs (all-time):