Chris Wilder issues verdict on promotion race with Leeds United as Sheffield United slip up

Leeds retained second place in the Championship last night, five games away from automatic promotion, after a 1-1 draw between the Blades and Birmingham at St Andrew's.

A win would have taken Sheffield United into the top two but Wilder’s side were unable to match the 2-0 victory earned by Leeds at Preston North End at Tuesday night.

The two Yorkshire clubs have been trading places in the Championship for a number of weeks amid a thrilling fight for second and Leeds dropped to third last weekend after a 1-0 defeat at Birmingham.

A defiant Wilder refused to discuss the promotion picture and asked if Sheffield United’s point might be a good one, he said: “I don’t know yet. There was one team who wanted to go and win it and get the three points. It’s a tough place to come, as a team (Leeds) found out on Saturday.

“You guys will talk about it (the promotion race), the fans will talk about it but I won’t. I’ll just talk about the accumulation of points. I can’t be a rollercoaster myself.

“We have to keep nice and calm, we have some fabulous games ahead. It’s not want we wanted tonight but the players shouldn’t feel down about it. They went for the win in the second half.

“One match doesn't decide anything, especially at this stage. It's all about an accumulation of points. This is all about how many people will get over a period of games.

"The one thing we’ve shown, and I've told the boys this afterwards, is that we’re going to take it right down to the wire.”

Leeds took three points from back-to-back trips to Birmingham and Preston while Sheffield United claimed four from identical fixtures.

“We've had two tough away days," Wilder said.

“We've taken four points from those and yes, although we'd have loved six, I think we've got to be happy with that overall. I think that's a good return.”