Sheffield United are heading in the right direction again.

It was a sign of how far they’ve come that there was real disappointment when their four-match winless streak ended in midweek, with Djibril Soumare’s own goal earning them a 1-1 draw with Norwich City.

Even just a little bit of Ruben Selles’ disastrous short tenure at Bramall Lane will give him something.

Chris Wilder is back where he belongs, leading the Blades. In such an open league, you feel like anything is possible.

Friday, December 12, 7:30 p.m.

Starts at 8:00 pm

Impressive turnaround after disastrous start

It wasn’t that simple at first. Sheffield United’s hierarchy may have hoped that the first few weeks of the season could be buried and forgotten when they reappointed Wilder in September.

But his return was heralded by a defeat at home to Charlton who had won one and lost three of their previous four games and lost six of their previous nine.

But the Steel City victory sparked a rally. At the end of November, they won the first of four consecutive games with a 3-0 victory over Sheffield Wednesday, during which they scored 13 goals and conceded only 2 goals.

Sheffield United are eighth in the table since Wilder took over, with 23 points from 15 games in charge.

You can see below how their fortunes have improved since he took office.

Compare that to Seles’ five games at the helm and you can also see the progress the team has made.

How close they are to what you would expect from Championship side Sheffield United, while actually scoring more goals and creating more chances on average.

‘Top six remains Sheffield United’s expectation’

Sky Sports’ David Pluton:

“It’s a step up under Chris Wilder but it’s the step up that’s needed after they’ve climbed the mountain themselves.

“The first finish line was short to get them out of the way. It took a little longer than expected, but it felt like they got it done.”

“I’m not saying now that they have to keep pushing to get into the top two. But this team was only about 15 minutes away from the Premier League last season.”

“There are still a lot of games left and they have to at least go straight to the top six.”

Wilder: Midweek disappointment shows how far we’ve come

Chris Wilder believes a disappointing midweek result against Norwich showed just how far they have come.

“The team’s performance was obviously not as smooth as it was against Norwich,” the Sheffield United boss said at his pre-match press conference. “It was a really bad goal conceded and we missed the opportunity to punish them.

“But we’re in good form. The team is really united. I’m delighted with the ambition in the team. We’re always greedy for results but the players shouldn’t beat themselves up too much for the way we’ve been performing.”

Next up is West Brom on Friday night, live sky sports football. Sheffield United currently sit bottom of the table but confidence will be low after two consecutive defeats.

“We’re fighting as hard as they are, they’re a big club in the division,” Wilder added. “They will be looking to get back into contention.

“This division has been crazy this season and we’ve shown everyone what you can do if you keep running. We want to keep that going.”