Wilder Admits Sheffield United Need “Best Version of Ourselves” to Keep Automatic Promotion Dreams Alive | OneFootball

Easter Monday brings a massive clash in the Championship promotion race as third-placed Sheffield United travel to Turf Moor to face second-placed Burnley.

With just three games remaining, Chris Wilder’s side knows that anything short of victory will all but end their hopes of automatic promotion, unless Leeds United, currently leading the race, were to lose all three of their remaining fixtures.

Burnley, managed by Scott Parker, have not lost a single match in 2025 and are the only side in the division still unbeaten at home this season. The Clarets demonstrated their resilience once again last time out, coming from behind to defeat a nine-man Watford side at Vicarage Road.

United, meanwhile, snapped a three-game losing streak with a scrappy but vital 2-0 win over relegation-bound Cardiff City at Bramall Lane. While the performance was far from their most fluent; both goals came via deflected assists, the result was all that mattered for a Blades side fighting to keep their promotion dream alive.

Chris Wilder on Blades’ Push for Promotion: “We’re the Underdogs, We’re Chasing”

Gustavo Hamer celebrating his goal against Cardiff City at Bramall Lane. (Image Credit: Sheffield United Football Club).

Speaking after the Cardiff game to SUTV, manager Chris Wilder stressed the importance of getting players back up to speed physically and mentally for what promises to be a high-intensity encounter in Lancashire.

“We’ll have to assess Rob [Holding] because going into a physical game like that when he hasn’t played much football is a challenge. He played maybe a month or six weeks ago when he came into the team, he’s a top professional and he looks after himself but it’s not like playing minutes. But we’ve not been able to get him any minute really. Getting another 75, 80 minutes in him was good, getting another game under Vini [Souza]; I’m sure there’s more to come from Vini as well.

“Having the skipper back in contention [Robinson], and a few of the other boys is huge. It’s important to look at it from an energy point of view. It’s going to be a 90 or 95 minute game. It’s important that tactically we get the setup right, and physically we need to be on it because there is going to be a lot of emotion in the game. We need to make sure that we produce the best version of ourselves.”

Wilder was also quick to praise the standard of competition in this season’s top three, with each of the promotion contenders producing remarkable points totals.

“You have to give credit to the teams at the top of the division; the points totals we’ve all managed this season are incredible, really unheard of. I’ve said it all along: we’re the underdogs, we’re chasing. History shows these games can throw up all sorts of results, but as long as our players keep showing belief and personality, which they absolutely have, I know our fans will be right behind us. We sold out the away end in a heartbeat.”

Wilder Knows Sheffield United “Need a Result” at Turf Moor

“We’ll see where we’re at, there’s still football to be played. We’ve still got to go to Stoke, we’ve got Blackburn at home, and the other teams have some big matches as well. But yes, we know we need a result at Burnley.”

The Blades boast one of the league’s best away records, until last week, losing to both Oxford United and Plymouth Argyle, and Wilder insists his side will need to deliver something special to improve it again.

“Stuff has got to happen away from us, but we have to take care of our business, and we have to make sure that we are fully focused on putting in a good performance and giving ourselves an opportunity to win a game. We’ve had the best away record all season up until last week. That hasn’t been given, that’s been earned, and we’re going to have to do a lot of things right on Monday night to improve our away record.”