Chris Wilder Makes Strong Remark About Recent Sheffield United Performances Ahead of Middlesbrough Test | OneFootball

Sheffield United will look to extend their winning streak to three games when they host Middlesbrough at Bramall Lane on Wednesday night.

The Blades have shown resilience in recent outings, securing results despite unconvincing performances. However, their victories have come against struggling sides, and last weekend’s 2-1 win over Portsmouth could have easily ended differently had their opponents taken their chances.

Michael Carrick’s Middlesbrough are in poor form, winning just one of their last four matches while suffering three defeats. One of those losses came against Portsmouth, a side Sheffield United recently overcame.

Boro briefly steadied themselves with a 2-0 win over West Bromwich Albion but then slipped again, conceding at least two goals in back-to-back defeats. This inconsistency has left them 20 points behind the Blades in the race for automatic promotion, and they’re currently outside the playoff spots.

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder confirmed that Tom Davies will be involved on Wednesday, while Kieffer Moore and Femi Seriki remain a week or two away from returning. Jamie Shackleton is also back in full training, meaning the Blades have a relatively short injury list compared to their opponents.

Middlesbrough, meanwhile, are dealing with several injury concerns. Goalkeeper Seny Dieng is a doubt, as are defenders Anfernee Dijksteel and Darragh Lenihan. Midfielders Jonny Howson and Riley McGree also face fitness tests, while promising winger Ben Doak could miss out again, which would be a significant blow given his impact in the reverse fixture against United.

Chris Wilder Reflects on Blades Recent Performances And Previews Sheffield United vs Middlesbrough

Jesurun Rak-Sakyi comes off the bench to be the match hero for Sheffield United as he scores the winning goal in a 2-1 victory at Bramall Lane against Portsmouth. (Image Credit: Sheffield United).

Many fans have voiced their concerns over recent results even despite winning. But Chris Wilder has made it clear that he values results over style: “I’d rather have a team that’s mentally strong and tough and wants to win than a team that’s milky and soft and plays beautiful football. End of conversation. End of chat. I’m a winning football manager, I want our team to win games. Chat in the pub, social media: I bet we’re getting battered [by the fans], but we’re winning. A lot of big clubs would swap that in a heartbeat.”

Despite the win over Portsmouth, Wilder acknowledged areas for improvement. Pompey were better in just about every phase of play, other than finishing. And, in the end, wayward finishing proved costly.

Wilder said: “We didn’t deal with their press well enough. We tried to play through it rather than over it, and we need to recognise different game plans. We were too slow, too many passes, invited pressure. Defensively, we didn’t handle their corner runs well and gave away too many chances. But when I step back, I realise this is a team that was put together in preseason, and maybe I need to chill out a bit from that point of view.”

Simply put, if United put in a similar level of performance against Middlesbrough on Wednesday night they will most likely taste defeat, given that the away side are one of the best teams in terms of both chance creation and taking those chances.

Wilder is expecting a tough battle against a well-drilled Michael Carrick side: “They’re one of the outstanding teams in the division; well-coached, well-managed, and with good players. It was a tight game up there [at the Riverside Stadium], and I expect another tough one. We had chances early on in the reverse fixture, but they wrestled control and won with a great pass and finish. It’ll be an interesting game.”