Chris Wilder's verdict on Sheffield United 2, Coventry City 1

The Star, Sheffield

Chris Wilder's verdict on Sheffield United 2, Coventry City 1, speaking to BBC Radio Sheffield

Transcript

00:00Chris, congratulations, another strong performance, some good goals and another vital win.

00:05Yeah, it's a good night for us. We had to be at our best because of the quality of the

00:11opposition. I thought it was a highly technical game, a lot of quality, a lot of good players

00:16on show, how it should be. Top end of the Championship, I wouldn't have expected anything

00:21different. I thought my team enjoyed the occasion and played with a smile and a swagger about

00:29and scored some great goals. I was delighted the way that we handled the first five or

00:38ten minutes after half-time. If anybody knows what football is about, there's always going

00:41to be a reaction from the opposition. They're always going to up the tempo because they

00:45had to to get back into the game. We saw that period out. Then knowing that on transition,

00:53on counter-attack, we've got the ability and the quality to go and hurt teams. We did that.

00:58It's a fabulous third goal from us in terms of the way we moved the ball. First pass out,

01:03Brio getting in the position, great way to pass for Rhian. I'm absolutely delighted for

01:10Rhian. He scored a big goal in front of a Kop a little while ago and he's scored another

01:16big goal in front of a Kop tonight. I'm delighted for Rhian to get his goal as well.

01:23How important was that moment of quality at nil-nil from Gus Harmer, just to give you

01:27the lead, give you the advantage at that moment?

01:30I was comfortable. It was always going to be a cagey start. I was comfortable. We had

01:35a couple of chances off the back of that. Tyrese was a threat all evening, one ball

01:40down the side. I believed it would come. I believe in this group. The group believes

01:48in itself. We just have to be patient and play our way. I've seen a step up from the

01:54last game going into the week. I always think it's quite a difficult one when you have

01:59a break to see what your team's about. At times this year, the first game back has been

02:05pretty lethargic and pretty uncomfortable at times, but I thought we were right at it.

02:11The week's been a really good one. A couple of days, matchday minus two, minus one, have

02:17been absolutely spot on. I thought we took that into tonight's game.

02:22John Campbell, he said that he's absolutely delighted to get to ten for the first time

02:26in his career. He's already setting new targets, Chris, but it's big for him. He's been such

02:31an important signing for you this year, hasn't he?

02:33Yes, a smart signing for us. We had to make smart signings, which we did, whether they

02:40were free transfers, whether they were small fees. We lost some players, as we know. I

02:48spoke to the members of the board this afternoon. I was grateful and delighted with the support

02:53they gave me in January because it was really important. You look at our bench now, it's

02:59a high-quality bench. We've not got Souza, we've not got Tom Davis and a couple of other

03:04players that are missing. It has to be like that because that's bringing parity to everybody

03:14in and around the top of the division. I've talked quite a lot about Coventry City's team

03:19and group. You look at their bench and they've got a high-quality squad, strength in depth

03:25and options and we've got that. Ty's doing great. He gives his all, which I said, and

03:37the ability to bring Callum on and Tom to come on as well is vital for us. We saw some

03:46pretty good players that are not even getting on the pitch tonight, Kiefer and Rob Olding

03:49and the likes.

03:50To go back to Rhian Brewster, it would be very easy for a player in his situation to

03:55say, it's just not going to work for me and to fall back. How much credit and how much

04:01pride do you have in him that he's having an impact here for you at the end of the season?

04:06Absolutely 100 per cent. I knew what it was about when I signed him. It was a real difficult

04:11period for us, as we know, through Covid. Maybe looking back, we signed two really young

04:18players at that time, Aaron Ramsdale and Rhian. Maybe on reflection, we should have maybe

04:28targeted a little bit more experience, but we believed in Rhian at the time, we believed

04:32in Ramos at the time. He's never wanted to be injured, I've been consistent with that.

04:38Never wanted to come in at nine o'clock and leave at five o'clock and watch his pals and

04:42his team-mates play. He wants to contribute and he has done. We've got to keep him healthy

04:47and fit because he's finished his first class. His link-up play is really good. He gives

04:53us that strength at the top of the pitch and he's keeping some good players out. Cal's

04:56been outstanding for us all season. Kiefer's had his injury issues, but his contribution

05:01has been amazing. I've got Tom Cannon knocking on the door as well, who's going to be a really

05:08good player, a young player as well, finding his feet with us. So for Rhian, it's great

05:14reward for his persistence, his patience and his belief in himself to get himself back.

05:21I'm a massive fan, I'm a big fan, I'm a big supporter and we're all hoping that Rhian

05:26can make a big contribution between now and the end of the season.

05:29What did you make of Hamza Choudhury today? The fans seemed to enjoy his performance.

05:33I thought Hamza would stand out for us at Illsborough. I thought he showed his Premier

05:39League class and quality-wise, played at that level-wise, won things with Leicester City

05:44at that level. I'm not saying he's played unbelievably regular football, but you don't

05:50stand around and stay around a club of that stature when they were winning FA Cups and

05:55challenging for Champions League places and whatever. I knew about Hamza, I've known him

06:02for a long, long time and stick on, by the way, he went missing for three days, nobody

06:07knew where he was. The Where's Hamza t-shirts were flying about all over the place. He's

06:14not trained and he came back late last night, so all the tactical work we had to do remotely

06:24with him. He came in early today and it just ran out of gas towards the end, but Outstanding

06:31got about the pitch, broke the game up. Grimes is a big player for them, didn't really see

06:36a lot of him first half. He had a little bit of the ball second half, we made a couple

06:41of changes and got round him as well. I thought for a period, just after we scored for 10

06:48and 15 minutes, we were rampant and really could have took the game away. Big opportunities,

06:54great play, nice and patient, calm and creative. Obviously on the counter attack, Hamza is

07:01really, really important for us. How we build is important, but the other side of it, breaking

07:07the game up and getting us going, he's top with that.

07:11All of the eyes will have been on you tonight, because you're playing on Friday night. The

07:15fact that you've won and now it pushes it to the other two, is it a difficult thing

07:20to deal with?

07:21Not really, not really. Wherever we play, whatever the fixture list chucks up, we've

07:24got to win games of football. I said before, in another interview, this is a really important

07:30part of the season. We wouldn't be in this position if we hadn't attacked the first part

07:36of the season and we're Sheffield United in this division. We've got a target on our back,

07:40we're an ex-Premier League club, we've had seasons in the Premier League, we start on

07:44minus two, so there's pressure to play for this football club right the way through.

07:49I think it's amazing, the connection with the supporters and the players. I think they're

07:54looking and seeing footballers that want to play for the football club and a team that

07:59wants to give everything. So the connection's there and I think the way that they're handling

08:05it. I've had experience, I've been down the stretch before, so to manage this group is

08:12a privilege and a pleasure. I've told them all along, they have to embrace and enjoy

08:18it. It's not every season that you're in and around it. Talking about Frank, he won things

08:26possibly every year or every other year and had so many England caps and scored so many

08:30goals and absolutely decorated and talented football that he earned the right to be that.

08:36But for our players, when they look back on their careers, they might have two or three

08:41promotions or whatever and a lot of the times nothing happens and a few times you have to

08:48suffer and take the defeat on the chin. So we have to really enjoy it, as a club as well.

08:5530,000 here tonight was fabulous. For me, all I ask is that the supporters give us the

09:02backing that they've given us tonight in the final three home games. This is a difficult

09:07place to go when you have nights like this. You feel the hostility, you feel the temperature

09:12raising and don't underestimate what the support and noise have given the players tonight.

09:18They've given them energy, they've given them a push, they've given them drive when we needed

09:23it and hopefully they've enjoyed the night just as much as myself and the players have.

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