WILDER PITS WITS AGAINST CREAM OF PREM

Steve Bates step up as a manager – and hopefully the standards that have been set by those guys will raise my standards and those of my staff too. That’s one of the biggest things we spoke about before the start of pre-season, long before the players came in.

“We had all the backroom staff in – coaches, the video analysis t e a m, s ports s c i e nce department, dieticians – all the infrastructure that give me and the players the support we need.

“The main thing we talked about was that we all had to up our game, not just the players – us as well.

“But I do believe when standards rise around you, so do yours.

“It’s up to me to keep working harder to keep up with the elite managers like Guardiola (above) and Klopp – world-class managers. But you still have to keep it relative as well in terms of where we are as a football club so it’s importan important we don’t beat ourse ourselves up too mu much if things d don’t go well.”

Wilder has i nstilled a winning mentality among his squad since their days in League One. Until t heir

Lpromotion to the Premier League, in three seasons of league football – two in the Championship and their promotion campaign in League One – his stars won 75 of their 138 matches, losing only 30.

But he knows that ratio won’t continue this season, saying: “We’re ready for that. We don’t want it to happen and we’re not going to enjoy it because we’ve been used to winning

games.

Underdogs

“We’re underdogs by a long way and favourites to go down by a long way so we will use t hat as motivation.

“But we’re realists and understand what’s coming and what might happen. I know there will be times ahead when we will be on the end of some doings.

“As long as we’re competitive and give everything, which the players always do, that’s all I can ask.

“It hasn’t happened yet. We have a point from the first game and we’d like to have something more on the board after Palace.

“We will deal with that when it does happen. We still want that fire and drive even if we lose – and we won’t accept it or become comfortable with losing.

“But it’s important to deal with defeat.

“This league is a bear pit – brutal – but it’s the place to be.”