Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder says his team is physically and mentally ready for tonight’s challenge as they prepare to face Bristol City in the first leg of the Championship play-off semi-finals at Ashton Gate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Blades, who finished third in the Championship with over 90 points, now face a two-legged tie against a Bristol City side returning to the play-offs for the first time in 17 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe preparation going into the play-offs has been very good from a physical point of view – ticking all the boxes and getting back to winning ways, playing in the manner and style that got us to this position with over 90 points,\u201d said Wilder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, while the league standings favour United, the play-offs present an entirely different challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI’ve got too much respect for the game, the opposition, their manager, and the club to think that just because we’re ahead in the league standings and recently came out of the Premier League, this is going to be straightforward. It isn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
United took four points from Bristol City during the Championship campaign and head into tonight\u2019s clash with one of the best away records in the league, having picked up 43 points on the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still, the Blades boss is adamant that there will be no shift in mentality or preparation, regardless of the pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no change in terms of our approach. We\u2019re going there to win. But we understand we\u2019ll have to play extremely well to win a game of football at Ashton Gate on Thursday night, in front of a very passionate and vociferous home crowd.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wilder also confirmed that his squad is almost at full strength for the semi-final, acknowledging it as a significant boost for the play-off contenders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe players are focused, the staff are focused. We know what we\u2019ve got to do. We\u2019re in a good place physically and mentally. We\u2019ve got a full selection of the group apart from one, which is outstanding at this stage of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite Sheffield United\u2019s well-documented play-off struggles, viewed by some as a lingering curse, the Blades remain confident that this year could finally break the pattern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no negativity about us at all. It\u2019s got nothing to do with us in terms of past records. We\u2019re here to rewrite it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Chris Wilder shares his thoughts amid tonight play off clash against Bristol City.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":717,"featured_media":65635,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[1837,286,33,1120,38,294],"class_list":["post-65612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport","tag-bristol-city","tag-efl-football","tag-football","tag-play-offs","tag-sheffield","tag-sheffield-united"],"yoast_head":"\n