Chris Wilder tears into Sheffield United players for what he saw v Blackburn Rovers | OneFootball

Sheffield United suffered a 3-1 loss to Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday night

Sheffield United suffered a disappointing 3-1 loss to Blackburn Rovers in their penultimate home game of the campaign.

A brace from Yuki Ohashi, as well as a 32nd minute strike from Ryoya Morishita had Michael O’Neill’s side ahead 3-0 going into the second half.

Harrison Burrows pulled one back before the hour mark for the Blades, but they were unable to mount a comeback.

The Yorkshire outfit’s form in recent weeks has cost the club the chance to compete for promotion to the Premier League.

Chris Wilder’s side are now 13 points adrift of the top six with just two games remaining, leaving them with little left to play for but pride.

Sheffield United reached the play-off final 12 months ago, but now are at risk of finishing in the bottom half of the Championship table with this latest defeat.

Chris Wilder rips into Sheffield United squad

Wilder has criticised his midfield and defence following the 3-1 loss to Blackburn, citing a lack of energy and sharpness during the midweek clash.

He stressed the importance of scoring the first goal in the game given Rovers’ threat on the break, and that his players were too loose in their passing before being hit in transition.

“Miles off of it, no energy, no sharpness to our play at all,” said Wilder, via Football Heaven on X.

“First goal was always going to be important, they’ve had some decent results, they had a decent result on Friday night against the best team in the division.

“They’re compact, they’re organised, Michael’s team always are, they hit you on the break, hit you on the transition if you’re loose on turnovers.

“We had to get the first goal, we tried to get the first goal, we didn’t and we were loose in terms of our passing, they make it difficult as seen.”

Wilder warned that it was always going to be difficult to play through Blackburn’s compact defence, particularly once behind, and he criticised his players for not being good enough on the ball or in defence at Bramall Lane.

“They’ve got five, four, sit in and you’ve got to play through them or play around them, play over them, and we weren’t good enough,” he added.

“We were so loose with our passing, and then they just broke on us and every time they’re going to break on us, if we defend like that, they’re going to punish us.

“As I said, turnovers are huge.

“Make sure there’s no turnovers on Saturday against good players at the top of the pitch, and so many turnovers.

“No energy in the middle of the park, and just a looseness about our general play.

“Like I said, if that happens, they’re going to counter and when they do counter we’ve not defended well enough at all.

“Davo’s made two great saves for one of the goals and they’ve just reacted better and quicker, we’ve not got out to stop crosses, we’ve not defended inside the box, we’ve just not defended well enough as a back four and give opportunities to any team in the division and they’re going to punish you, and they have done.

“Obviously from half-time, 3-0 down is a long way to come back.”

Sheffield United’s difficult campaign

Sheffield United went into the season hoping to compete for promotion to the Premier League again, but have ultimately failed in that ambition.

Wilder was brought back in as head coach in September after departing following the defeat to Sunderland in the play-off final last season.

A disastrous start to the season was on the way to being turned around, but just eight wins from 20 in 2026 ended any hopes of being able to compete for a top six finish.

The Yorkshire outfit have two games remaining to put some gloss on an otherwise disappointing year before work can begin on improving the first team squad over the summer.

Next up for the Blades is a home clash against Preston North End on 25 April in a 3pm kick-off, where former manager Paul Heckingbottom will make his return to Bramall Lane.

Chris Wilder already has one eye on the transfer window

Provided Wilder remains in charge for next season, which appears likely at this stage, then these comments should sound the alarm bells for the Sheffield United squad.

The 58-year-old is warning his players that they will not be a part of his plans next season if they don’t improve and perform consistently.

The Blades will no doubt want to compete for promotion again next year, but their form in the last couple of months indicates that they aren’t good enough for that right now.

Wilder knows what it takes to earn a place in the Premier League, and he will be looking for that standard from the squad over the summer, or else big changes could be made.