Opposition View: Sheffield United
- Chris Wilder previews Sheffield United's Carabao Cup encounter with Leicester City
- The Blades and Foxes meet at Bramall Lane on Tuesday evening
- Wilder hopes his side can impress as underdogs in Round 2 of the competition
- Local journalist James Shield also provides an assessment of United's talents and threats
Like the Foxes in 2009, United lifted the Sky Bet League 1 title last season and are hoping to establish themselves back in the second tier before looking to the Premier League.
Wilder hopes his side can channel the spirit of City’s fabled 2016 top flight title win and use it to their own advantage at Bramall Lane to secure a place in the Round 3 draw later this week.
Speaking to the media on Monday morning, he said: “The Leicester story was incredible, then Huddersfield backed it up with some fantastic play last season.
“These things can happen, but don't always. Premier League history suggests it will take a lot of doing for anything to topple Leicester's achievements.
“In sport there is always a favourite and an underdog and you always have to believe you are capable of upsetting the odds.
“We'll be looking to do that on Tuesday night and beyond that we want to have a really good season in the Championship.”
James Shield, a reporter for the Sheffield Star, backed up the Blades manager’s thoughts with LCFC Radio this week, saying they are well placed for a strong season.
“The expectations are just to have a good, solid campaign,” he said.
“It’ll be about cementing themselves at Championship level and ensuring that they continue the progression under Wilder.
“They have made some amazing strides forward in the last 12 months. They shouldn’t have been in League 1 as long as they were.
“He came in and identified the problems and came up with the right solutions. They were far too good for League 1 last season and it’s all about maintaining that progression.
“At this stage in their development, establishing themselves in the Championship is their overriding priority.”
Shield expects United’s focus to be firmly on City, however, rather than their league campaign come kick-off.
“They have got an old fashioned approach, which is a great thing,” he added.
“They don’t pick and choose games, it was made pretty clear that this is a game on television, people are paying good money and all games are worth winning.
“The club have had some tremendous runs in the cup competitions under Nigel Clough and Neil Warnock. They will look to that and think they wouldn’t mind a bit of that either.
“They are very aggressive in their style of play. They will go into the game on front foot and look to stay there.
“It is not a team who looks to sit back and hit teams on the break, they like to seize the initiative and, if possible, keep it. It’s a very forthright attitude in the squad.”