Why Chris Wilder approached Barry Bannan and Liam Palmer after Sheffield United’s Steel City Derby win | OneFootball

The Sheffield Wednesday pair were both seen speaking to Wilder post-match at Hillsborough

Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder has explained why he approached Sheffield Wednesday pair Barry Bannan and Liam Palmer after his side ran riot at Hillsborough with a 3-0 win.

The Blades were once more victorious in the Steel City Derby - a contest they've not lost in since February 2012 when the two clubs were both in League One - with goals either side of half time from Tyrese Campbell effectively settling the contest early on in the second half.

A late strike from Tom Cannon wrapped things up for United, and it led to jubilant scenes from the entire squad in-front of the travelling support who were housed in the top tier of the Leppings Lane End - something ex-Wednesday forward Josh Windass was critical of when on punditry duty for Sky Sports.

Chris Wilder praises Sheffield Wednesday pair Barry Bannan and Liam Palmer after Steel City Derby success

Wilder joined in on the celebrations on the pitch post-match, but that was after speaking to some of the opposition players that he enjoys a rivalry with in the form of Bannan and Palmer, who have both been long-serving - and recently suffering - Sheffield Wednesday players, and it's evident that the Blades boss has plenty of respect for the veteran pair.

"I said to Liam Palmer and Barry Bannan after the game, I think they've been an incredible credit to their football club," Wilder told Sky Sports.

"I've been in that situation, in administration, and how they rallied everybody.

"They were training on Woodbourn Road in the summer and those two have been the heartbeat of their start.

"They were in a difficult situation, I get that, but they're an honest group, we're an honest group and we had to be honest with our performance, and they run us so hard, so we had to be right and disciplined and stick to the game plan and good in both boxes which we were.

"For Henrik (Pedersen) and those two guys and how they go about it I think an awful lot of credit should go to them."

Wilder has made no secret over the years of his dislike for Sheffield Wednesday as a club as he is a lifelong Sheffield United man, but it's clear to see that he feels a great deal of sympathy for everyone connected with the Owls due to what they've gone through under previous owner Dejphon Chansiri.

Barry Bannan and Liam Palmer deserve a lot of credit for persevering through Sheffield Wednesday struggles

Palmer has been at Sheffield Wednesday throughout his professional career, signing his first deal in 2010 and besides one loan stint at Tranmere Rovers, he's only been at Hillsborough, and he may hit the 500 appearance mark for the Owls before the end of the season.

Bannan meanwhile has been with the Owls since August 2015, and at the age of 35 he shows no signs of slowing down - he could've even left the club in their turmoil over the course of the summer, with Championship rivals Millwall and Middlesbrough willing to pay him £21,000 a week, as per The Times, but he remained at Wednesday for a wage of £7,000, which is the maximum that was able to be offered.

Both are the elder statesmen of a Wednesday squad that is incredibly young when you get past the starting 11, and that is why a takeover must happen as soon as possible, so that Henrik Pedersen's squad can be refreshed for the second half of the season.

Bringing in Liam Cooper on a free transfer is a start, but more must be done in the near future to make sure there are enough players for the Owls to be able to utilise - and then they need to find the individuals willing to sign for a club that are almost certainly going to be relegated valiantly to League One, despite their hardest work on the pitch.