Chris Wilder makes massive Leeds United admission with honest Sheffield United verdict in automatics fight

Blades boss Chris Wilder has made a massive Leeds United admission with a very honest Sheffield United verdict in the Championship’s automatic promotion race.

Wilder’s side had a two-point cushion in the automatic promotion places at the end of last month in addition to a two-point lead at the top of the division but three consecutive defeats have drastically changed the picture.

With just four games left, Wilder’s side now find themselves third and five points behind both Burnley and Leeds who are tied on 88 points but with Daniel Farke’s Whites top on goal difference.

Speaking on the back of Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Plymouth Argyle, admitted his side’s “inability” to pick up any points from their last three games had unquestionably given both Leeds and Burnley a “massive” boost.

The Blades must also visit second-placed Burnley in a huge and potentially season-defining showdown on Easter Monday night.

Wilder, though, has declared that he is not looking at the Clarets contest, or the two that follow and only focusing on the need for a “proper performance” in his side’s Good Friday return to action with a home clash against relegation-battling Cardiff City.

“Because of our inability to pick up any points over the last three games”...

“I haven't got a crystal ball to see what happens in the last four games,” said Wilder, as quoted by the YEP’s sister title The Star.

“What happens up the road, or over the Pennines. But it's certainly given them a massive boost, because of our inability to pick up any points over the last three games. We've gone from a really great position after the Coventry game, to one where we're now chasing.

“What will be, will be but first and foremost, we need to win on Friday to get that feeling back inside us. We need to come in Monday bright, dust ourselves down and have a big week.

“We need a big performance on Friday in front of our own supporters. We're the ones who put ourselves in that position and we're the ones who've taken ourselves out of it.

“We need to put in a proper performance on Friday and raise everyone by the attitude and manner of our approach, and the level of performance. We need to find one. I'm not looking at Monday or next Friday or the week after