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'That's the aim' - Japhet Tanganga sets out Sheffield United target after Birmingham stalemate Sheffield United started their 2026/27 Championship campaign with a 0-0 draw against Birmingham City. Captain Japhet Tanganga has said Sheffield United are determined to make themselves as hard to beat as possible this season after starting the new Championship campaign with a 0-0 draw against Birmingham City at Bramall Lane on Saturday. In a game of few clear-cut opportunities for either side, the Blades and Blues cancelled each other out in front of the Sky Sports cameras, with neither Michael Cooper nor James Beadle having much to do in the respective goals. United were keen to make a fast start to the campaign after losing each of their first six Championship matches last season, so getting a point on the board on day one represented an improvement. Boss Chris Wilder admitted afterwards that his team would “definitely” have lost the game last season, given the way it played out. A clean sheet on the opening day of the new league campaign marked United’s fifth in eight games since reporting back for pre-season training, after they kept out Chesterfield, Rotherham United and VfL Bochum during their pre-season preparations. They also kept a clean sheet in last Sunday’s 3-0 win over Mansfield Town in the Carabao Cup first round. Having conceded 66 goals in the Championship last term, United are determined to tighten up at the back this season. In the opinion of Tanganga, who produced a solid display alongside Mark McGuinness at centre-back, the Blades have to make keeping clean sheets a leading focus this term. Tanganga told BBC Radio Sheffield: “I don't want to really bang on about last season, but I think last season that was like our Achilles heel, really. We created a lot of chances, but then we also gave a lot of chances away for teams. “I think we've been working hard on that all pre-season and you can via the results that we kept a few clean sheets, and we wanted that to be the base mark going into the season. “We want to be hard to beat and to make sure that teams don't get it easy. If they score, it's a worldie. But if not, then we do the best we can to try and keep that working, not just defenders, but the whole team, which you saw today. “So that's the aim: just to give ourselves that base, give ourselves a clean sheet. And then, with a clean sheet, then we're more likely to get a go and win the game. If not, we draw the game.”