Chris Wilder makes blunt Sheffield United promotion point amid Leeds United comparison

Chris Wilder has moved to squash early talk of his Sheffield United side being promotion favourites, insisting they are not at the same level as Leeds United, Burnley or Luton Town.

The Blades have already moved above Leeds in the Championship table despite being deducted two points, with their opening-day victory over Preston North End followed by a 2-2 draw against Queens Park Rangers. That strong start, coupled with a shrewd summer that has seen the likes of Callum O’Hare, Kieffer Moore and Jesurun Rak-Sakyi arrive, has fuelled excitement in South Yorkshire of an instant return to the Premier League.

But last weekend’s draw at home to QPR came against 10 men and, having lost more than a dozen first-team players at the start of summer, Sheffield United remain light and the purse-strings are tight amid an ongoing takeover situation. And so Wilder has moved to distance his side away from the likes of Leeds, who remain well-fancied to challenge for a top-two spot despite another slow start.

“A lot of good things have been said about us over one good performance at Preston,” Wilder told The Yorkshire Post. “Just because a club comes out of the Premier League, it is expected to be up there straight away. We’re not Burnley, Leeds or Luton.

“There’s a hell of a lot of changes that we have made this pre-season. Sometimes, from me, I am going to protect those players as I should and hopefully we, as a football club, will recognise that. Sometimes, you have to suffer little backward steps.

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“A win and a draw in the first two games … It should have been two wins, but isn’t. There’s still a hell of a long way to go. There’s a little bit of disappointment around the place (after Saturday) and it might have just knocked a few people back to say we are not the finished article by any way, shape or form.”

Burnley have certainly started the best out of the aforementioned trio, with consecutive victories over Luton and Cardiff City producing an impressive nine goals. Leeds can boast an unbeaten start to their league campaign but Daniel Farke’s side have also failed to win, with draws against Portsmouth and West Brom leaving them in the bottom half of the table at this early stage.

Pressure is mounting in West Yorkshire as last season’s slow start, which Farke and club chiefs pinpointed as a key reason for their failure to go up, is seemingly repeated. Georginio Rutter followed Archie Gray, Crysencio Summerville and Glen Kamara out the door on Monday after seeing Brighton activate his £40million release clause, and interest in replacements has not yet developed into any concrete offers.

Leeds have just 10 days to conclude their transfer business, with four players needed at a minimum, but in failing to sign anyone for a month since Jayden Bogle’s arrival, they have a huge task in ensuring Farke’s squad is not significantly worse than it was last season. The Whites go to Sheffield Wednesday on Friday looking for their first win, in what will be the last game before the summer transfer window shuts on August 30.