The Championship battle is heating up as Leeds United continue to lead the table with a two-point lead over Sheffield United in second and a five-point lead over Burnley who are third. The Blades entered the season as firm favourites for promotion. They had the funds to push for a return to the top flight immediately after getting relegated and in Chris Wilder, they have one of the most experienced managers at this level. However, they are now being upstaged by Leeds and have Burnley hot on their tails. They did beat Portsmouth at home but the performance was panned by the manager who seems to be feeling the pressure of getting promoted.
The race for automatic promotion is set to get down to the wire again this season with Leeds, Sheffield United, Burnley and Sunderland fighting for the top two spots.
Leeds’ consistency in the league has allowed them to build a five-point lead over Burnley who are sitting just outside the automatic promotion spots. But Sheffield United are being closely chased by the Clarets.
Gustavo Hammer and Jesurun Rak-Sakyi scored for the Blades who beat Portsmouth 2-1 at home to remain second in the league table, just two points behind Leeds.
Sheffield United are one of the big favourites to get promoted to the Premier League and in Chris Wilder, they have a manager who has done this before and is one of the most experienced coaches at this level.
However, Wilder’s harsh words for his players following the win is a sign that the Blades manager is also feeling the heat of a close promotion race.
Chris Wilder hammered his players for a ‘frightening’ performance
Portsmouth left Brammall Lane without anything to show for their efforts this weekend but they had the home side on the ropes in the first half.
They took the lead and Wilder conceded that his defenders were poor and Sheffield United should have conceded two or three goals in the first half if the Portsmouth players were more clinical.
He conceded that he was left spooked by the performance as his team looked ‘unrecognisable’ and he is not prepared to excuse that poor a showing.
The Sheffield United boss insisted that his team will not get what they want this season if they produce more such shocking performances.
“We should have been two or three down first half; we defended really poorly, individually and as a unit. If they were more clinical they’d have put us to bed”, Wilder was quoted as saying by the Yorkshire Evening Post.
“As I’ve said before, in a season there are 10 or 15 games you play really well. Some more when you play okay to well, and there are a handful where you think: ‘How have we got something from that game?’
“And I think that’s today. In the second half, the amount of free-kicks we gave away was absolutely frightening. it was unrecognisable. Some of the decisions we made were baffling. I’ve been brought up to be honest and tell the truth, there have been spin managers all over the place, that look and see a completely different game.
“But the supporters wouldn’t enjoy me trying to spin that, so I won’t. We were second best and didn’t deserve anything from the game. And we have to be so much better going down the stretch if we want to achieve what we want to.”
Leeds will have a chance to pile the pressure on Wilder this month
The Whites will hope to shake off their FA Cup exit at the hands of Millwall this weekend and refocus on the Championship this week.
They will be in action on Tuesday night when they will travel to Vicarage Road to take on Watford in a big Championship clash and they will aim to take three more points from the game.
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Leeds also have a game against Sunderland next Monday night before they have a massive clash against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on 25th February.
If Leeds are still at the top of the table ahead of the big game against the Blades, Wilder will be under real pressure to script a win for his side when the Whites visit Bramall Lane.
A win or even a draw at Bramall Lane will be a massive result for Leeds and will pile the pressure on the Sheffield United manager and his team in the promotion race.
