Sheffield United's "anxiety" plan as Chris Wilder makes promotion pledge following untimely Millwall defeat — Sheffield Star 9/4/25
By Danny Hall
Chris Wilder is contemplating freshening up his Sheffield
United side for their long trip to Plymouth Argyle at the weekend - and not
just to bring in some fresh legs at the end of a three-game week that has so
far brought two defeats. The Blades boss admitted that his side showed an
“anxiety” in their 1-0 defeat to Millwall last night at a nervy and edgy
Bramall Lane.
That result saw the Blades drop to third with just five
games of the regular season remaining, with two points separating them and
second-placed Burnley and leaders Leeds. United had chances against the Lions
and should have been awarded a penalty, but they also struggled to control
their emotions as they frantically looked to get back in the game with
increasing desperation.
“The longer the game went on, the anxiety sort of crept into
the players and decisions they've not really made all season started creeping
into the game,” Wilder said. “If you go deep into a season like we are doing
we've got to deal with this a lot better.
"It's a new experience for a lot of our players playing
for a big club in this division - it's not League One now, it's big boys'
football. It's game on against some good players and a good manager who have
still got something to fight for.”
The Blades travel to a Plymouth side fighting for their
lives at the bottom of the Championship table looking to get their own season
back on track, with the likes of Jesurun Rak-Sakyi and Vini Souza on standby to
come into the side after coming off the bench at home to Alex Neil’s side.
Asked how he plans to deal with the sense of anxiety he
identified in his players, Wilder admitted: “Well, it's quite difficult. I
might have to look at team selection and freshen it up on Saturday. I might
have to take a couple of boys out of the firing line. It's a new experience for
some of the younger ones.
“It's not an experienced team, right the way through. And
that's not an excuse because they've done it and they've got to learn. They've
got to get through this period if they want to be top players. They've got to
be able to deal with business ends of seasons, and pressure games. And making
those decisions. And at the moment we're not finding that balance.
