news-engine

Sheffield United's opening-day draw with Birmingham City pinpoints progress as Chris Wilder makes blunt admission Chris Wilder believes Sheffield United would have “definitely” lost their goalless draw with Birmingham City last season, pointing to a more resilient performance as the Blades began their Championship campaign with a point. Chris Wilder believes this evening’s goalless draw with Birmingham City highlighted the progress his Sheffield United side have made in the last few months, believing it was a game the Blades would “definitely” have lost last season. The goalless draw at Bramall Lane got the Blades on the board at the first attempt. It took until the seventh game of last season for United to pick up their first point, with their defensive record proving their Achilles heel time and time again. But they looked much more solid here, with Michael Cooper denying Jay Stansfield and a superb block from skipper Japhet Tanganga helping keep the score goalless. At the other end James Beadle made a smart save to keep out Patrick Bamford’s effort and both sides had to settle for a point to get their season up and running. And Wilder afterwards said: “I believe it's a game that we possibly, or definitely, would have lost last season. We lost 28 points from winning positions last year. It was always going to be a game of moments. We knew the change of approach since Christmas. “I always give a balanced opinion of the game. Not through rose tinted glasses. So I'll give them a balanced opinion of the game. It was a tight game, a tight Championship game. They're bringing on Demarai Gray and leaving Patrick Roberts on the bench. And bringing on Max Bird, who's Bristol City's best player. And we've got four academy players out there at the end. “The clubs are a little bit different at the moment, this particular moment. But, as I said, it swung. They swung the momentum second half into their favour. “And I thought all our Achilles heel stuff that happened last year, from the metric point of view, we stood up to that. Defended set plays really well. Defended the counter attack really well. “We weren’t wide open, we were nice and compact and tight. At the top of the pitch, we never flowed. It seemed a little bit rushed. We're usually better on the ball and calmer and create and have a little bit more control. We never really had that. We made some poor decisions with the ball and turned it over. But at least we weren't wide open and got done on a counter-attack. And I think that we definitely got done last season. So if you can't win, you don't get beat. So we're happy. Get a point, take that and enjoy our weekend.”