‘TERROR TUESDAY’ HELPS WHEN SATURDAY COMES

CHRIS WILDER laid the foundations for Sheffield United’s incredible season with his ‘Terror Tuesdays’ pre-season sessions.

Boss Wilder (right) has inspired one of the great success stories of the Premier League era by taking newly-promoted Blades to the brink of the Champions League. It has come via a mix of team work, dressing-room spirit and extreme fitness – starting with an unforgettably painful day in Portugal back in July.

It has helped sustain their whole campaign. Wing-back George Baldock, who has played in all of their 28 games, said: “Terror Tuesdays, ooh, that’s not nice. It’s not nice. “The whole week the manager would be talking about it, walking past you in the breakfast room and saying, ‘Not long till Tuesday, get your running spikes on’. You’re going out in 25 degree heat, full-size pitch and, depending on pre-season testing, he’ll put you in groups – no shortcuts.

“So it’s tight, competitive and the 11-a-side pitch was split into six, a pole in each corner.

“You have to start with a jog, get to the pole and then it was run as quick as you can for one minute, jog for five, run as quick as you can for two, jog for four, run as quick as you can for three, jog for three, all the way round the whole pitch.

“I remember doing it, everyone was on their knees and then he says, ‘You’ve got to go do it again from one now’.

“Then you’re doing it for six, running for five, then he’s got us all to the halfway line. ‘Right, you’ve got to run 1,200 metres as quick as you can’.

“When I look back, it was a clever way to test how mentally strong you are. He just wants to see you go to the absolute max.”