Ings confident Sheff Utd can recover from awful start

Danny Ings made his debut for Sheffield United in Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Middlesbrough

Sheffield United striker Danny Ings believes it is just a matter of time until the team get going in the right direction after their terrible start to the season.

The Blades finished third last season before losing to Sunderland in the play-off final and Ruben Selles replaced Chris Wilder in the summer.

However, they lost all five games they played in league and cup in August and sit bottom of the Championship.

"I see a lot of talent and a lot of people eager to do really well," he told BBC Radio Sheffield.

"I know we haven't started well but you can see the hunger is there on the training pitch and everyone is working together to try and turn it around. It's all about hard work and sticking together.

"I believe football is based on momentum. Sometimes you have bad momentum and sometimes you have good momentum. It's about learning as a group how we can change that.

"The first step is the basics. It doesn't matter how much talent you have in the dressing room, you need the hard work or it is not going to happen at any level.

"It's been a difficult start but from what I've seen since I've been here everyone is working so hard to turn it around and that's how I know it is just a matter of time."

The 33-year-old, who joined the club as a free agent last week, added: "There's so many games and a run of wins and this period is forgotten about. There's no reason with this group we can't go on a run and win two, three, four or five games in a row, it's just the way this league is."

The South Yorkshire side face a trip to relegated Ipswich, who are also without a win this season, when the Championship returns from the international break on Friday, 12 September.

In the history of the Football League only four times have ever lost their first four league games and gone on to win promotion that season.

Plymouth and Crewe won promotion from the fourth tier having started with four straight losses in 1995-96 and 2011-12 respectively, while Sunderland Nottingham Forest achieved the feat from the Championship in 2006-07 and 2021-22.

Ings spent the summer without a club having left Premier League side West Ham at the end of last season.

The veteran striker endured a difficult spell in east London with just four goals from 52 league appearances, only 11 of which were starts.

This is his first period playing in the second tier since scoring 21 goals to help Burnley win promotion to the top flight in 2013-14 and he is keen to prove that still has the desire to play at a high level.

"I'm buzzing for it. I've been working really hard away from West Ham for the past couple of years to stay on top of my fitness," he added.

"Now the next challenge is here I'm really looking forward to it. I'm just trying to trust the process and enjoy the hard work because I think once I enjoy football again the goals will follow.

"One thing you do learn is football is such a short career. Positive moments and bad moments are all part of your individual journey. I'm so happy I can carry it on now because I've still got a lot of football to give.

"I'd like to score lots more goals and show I've still got the hunger. I'm not in a position where I want to slow down."