"I’m not daft" - Chris Wilder drops Sheffield United claim | OneFootball

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder was left unconcerned by his side's Boxing Day defeat to Burnley

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder has claimed that his side could be on course to win close to 100 points, and wasn't left concerned by the Blades' Boxing Day defeat to fellow automatic promotion chasers Burnley.

Despite their loss to the Clarets, the South Yorkshire outfit accumulated 48 points from the first half of the campaign, and would have earned 50 points if they had not been subject to a previous deduction.

But, following his side's defeat against Scott Parker's men, Wilder was asked whether he was concerned by the fact that the Blades have now lost against both the Clarets and Leeds United, their nearest promotion rivals.

Wilder makes 100 point claim

The Blades boss said: "I’ve just answered a ridiculous question about results against teams in and around the top of the division.

"Is there a different competition, that you win when you win games against teams at the top?

"I don’t know.

"I had to remind him that if we replicate the first part of the season, we might end up on close to 100 points, and that might be enough to go up.

"Every game is massively important, whatever it is."

"I’m not daft, we’d have loved to take points off the teams in and around us and Burnley were one of them today (Boxing Day).

"But we’re all right.

"No knee-jerk reactions to anything.

"We need some players back, we obviously need to look at the group in January, which we’ve talked about.

"There’s no disgrace in losing.

"We were going to lose and as long as we left everything out there, which we did.

"They found the moments, they’ve got the good players to keep the ball late on and be streetwise in their approach, which they definitely were."

"And sometimes you’ve just got to hold our hands up and say we’ve lost a tight game to a decent team."

Blades must bounce back from Clarets setback

Wilder is right to be left unconcerned by the Blades' defeat to the Clarets on Boxing Day, as the Bramall Lane side enjoyed a largely successful opening half of the Championship season, and would be sitting top of the table if it wasn't for their two-point deduction.

However, it is vital that the South Yorkshire outfit make up for their dropped points by defeating West Bromwich Albion on Sunday afternoon, as a potentially tricky away trip to Sunderland on New Year's Day awaits.

Should the Blades lose to the Black Cats, just a handful of days after their Clarets setback, then questions regarding their record against fellow promotion chasers would likely surface once more.

However, if Wilder's men earn positive results against both the Baggies and the Black Cats, then their promotion push will be back on track, and they will have made a successful start to the all-important second half of the campaign.