There's no halting Blades' title surge

Chris Wilder

SHEFFIELD United manager Chris Wilder is determined his side keep their foot pressed firmly on the accelerator as the club hunt down the title.

Bolton's midweek win at Oxford reduced the gap at the top to six points, with eight matches left for the respective clubs.

Wilder wants his consistent side, who have only lost three times in the league since the opening month, continue to follow their current path following on from the 2-1 home win over Charlton at Bramall Lane last week.

"We can't talk about what we need. We just can't," said Wilder, who has constructed a robust Blades squad after lifting the League Two title with Northampton last season.

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"Punters, the Press, will talk about what we need but we can't look too far ahead. I've been in the game too long to know that's a bad idea.

"We just want to keep the hammer down.

"We want to be relentless and ruthless.

"It's been a great month and we've stuck a great run together. We're proud of that and want to keep it going."

March has so far brought three wins, over Charlton, Oxford and Swindon, and a draw at Rochdale.

Now, the Blades arrive at SportsDirect.com Park seeking an 11th away win of the campaign in front of 4,350 of their own fans.

Wilder accepts that Athletic - who have lost once at home in 2017, against Bradford - will provide durable opposition, but he feels that there is little reason why his players can't prove themselves up to the task of claiming three points.

"It will be a different game," Wilder told the Sheffield Star. "I know John Sheridan well and he has connections with the other side (Sheffield Wednesday).

"They're fighting for their lives and have had some great results, but every hurdle that's put in front of us, we pass it.

"Charlton have some good players who clearly fancied it on the day, but we have players who fancy it all the time.

"Maybe we haven't had that previously, but listening to (Charlton boss) Karl Robinson, they want that consistency that we have.

"If you want to get out of a division, it's a big attribute to have."

Former Athletic left-back Daniel Lafferty, who played 15 games for the club on loan from Burnley last season, won't feature in this game due to his call-up to the Northern Ireland squad.

Ex-Rochdale man Matt Done may fill the vacancy, or else Chris Basham could take on the job.