Wilder’s focus remains firmly on last four games
We are all fighting for our careers at Barnsley – Struber
IMPROBABLE though it might have seemed at the start of the season, Chelsea’s trip to Bramall Lane tomorrow will have a big bearing on both side’s chances of qualifying for Europe, but Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder is only interested in accumulating points, and assessing what they mean later.
The Blades dented Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Champions League hopes with a 1-0 home win on Thursday, and can do similar to Frank Lampard’s Blues, but more important would be what it means for their own chances of a first European campaign.
Victory would put them sixth ahead of Wolves’ game at home to Everton on Sunday.
Wilder, though, is refusing to get distracted by talk of the club’s greatest season of modern times.
“Just to add to our points total would be great, we’ve got four games left and the time to reflect will be at the end of the season,” insisted Wilder, a right-back under Dave “Harry” Bassett, whose status as the Blades’ best postwar manager is under threat. “We’ve got more to do than look at Rothmans books from 20, 30 years ago.
“We don’t want it to finish on 51 (points), we want to add and the boys are determined. We’ll reflect at the end of the season.
“What Harry did at this football club is right up there if not the best in the modern era as a Sheffield United fan. The club was going out of the second division (relegated four months after he took over in 1988) and in the space of three years, they found themselves in Division One.
“It’s not felt like we’ve been pushing for Europe all the way through, it’s been media talk. I can’t control that.
“We’re looking for a big finish. We demand one, regardless of the size of squads or quality or whatever advantages the majority if not all Premier League clubs have over us.”
Quite apart from not putting pressure on his players, there is another good reason for not getting caught up in talk of Europe.
Until there is a decision on Manchester City’s appeal against a two-year European ban – expected on Monday – it is unclear where they must finish. If the ban is upheld, sixth and seventh place in the Premier League will qualify for the Europa League, with the final spot going to the FA Cup winners, or the team in eighth if they have already qualified.
BARNSLEY head coach Gerhard Struber has stressed that it will not just be Wigan Athletic’s players who are fighting for their careers at Oakwell on Saturday.
Fraught times prevail at crisis club Wigan, where administrators made 75 nonplaying staff redundant earlier this week, with players to receive only 20 per cent of their monthly wages.
On the pitch, a 12-point deduction is likely to propel the Latics from mid-table right into the thick of the Championship relegation scrap.
Paul Cook’s side remain defiant with the Wigan chief dedicating Wednesday’s 1-0 win over QPR to those staff who have lost their jobs, the club and town.
Mercifully, Barnsley are free from the strife experienced at Wigan, but Struber is conscious of the need for his players to fight for themselves and their club tomorrow, with relegation to League One likely to have repercussions.
Struber, who has labelled the fixture as a must-win one, said: “This is the challenge. We are also fighting for our careers and chance to stay in the league. It is a challenge for Wigan and my team on Saturday.
“Everyone must go on his personal limit, maybe out of his border of personal performance.
“Every game is an emotional game, but on Saturday, everyone knows what they need. This is a game with strong fights. We have to keep fighting.”
Barnsley head into the game on the back of a 1-1 draw at fellow strugglers Luton where they paid the price for a lack of ruthlessness in front of goal.
That encounter saw top-scorer Cauley Woodrow’s goal drought extend to seven matches, while Conor Chaplin has netted just three times in his past 15 outings.
Jacob Brown has also scored just twice in the league since late October.
For his part, Woodrow insists his confidence has not been dented and head coach Struber also retains faith in his forwards at the season’s critical phase.
Woodrow said: “I have scored really frequently since I have been at the club and now have not scored for a few games and everyone is saying: ‘why is he not scoring?’
“It is part of the game and I am not low on confidence.”
Struber added: “We have the right qualities and I trust my strikers.
“I hope that (Conor) Chaplin, Cauley Woodrow and Browny come back and can do what we want from them – scoring goals.
“Sometimes, it is not easy, but I trust my boys 100 per cent.”