Wilder did not care about chant - Bamford

Patrick Bamford could make his Sheffield United debut against Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday

Sheffield United striker Patrick Bamford has praised the "rare" honesty of boss Chris Wilder.

Bamford, 32, who has joined the Blades on a deal until until January, phoned Wilder to apologise after starting a derogatory chant about him during Leeds' Premier League promotion celebrations in April.

Wilder said at the time he had "no issue" with it although the pair have previously clashed.

In 2019 Wilder called Bamford "a muppet" when Sheffield United went up ahead of Leeds.

"When the video came out of the chant it was one of those where I had had a few drinks and the next day my mum was panicking saying 'why have you started that?'" he told BBC Radio Sheffield.

"I thought I should ring Chris and try and clear the air a bit and I remember waiting for him to answer I was thinking he was going to have a right go at me.

"He didn't pick up but he rang me back 10 or 15 minutes later and it was refreshing because he was so nice and completely understood.

"A few years before we had had a little bit then so there was no hard feelings. He didn't care.

"In football it's rare you come across a manager who is as you see them. He's straightforward and honest and for me that is super refreshing."

One-cap England international Bamford, who left Leeds by mutual consent in August, could make his Sheffield United debut at rivals Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday.

He revealed he came very close to joining Frank Lampard's runaway league leaders Coventry before a deal fell through.

"I knew Frank from my time at Chelsea and so I went down and either way training with a team is better than training alone," he said.

"The deal was pretty much done and then the owner, which I have no hard feelings about, decided he didn't want to do it with the team flying.

"I spoke to Frank and he apologised and he was happy to have me there and I just said I was grateful for letting me train and get my fitness up.

"When the deal fell through Chris rang me and I spent 20 minutes on the phone with him and then came here the next day and within two hours the deal was done."

'Blades season is not doomed'

Sheffield United finished third behind Leeds and Burnley last season before losing to Sunderland in the play-off final.

They sacked Wilder and replaced him with Ruben Selles in the summer but brought Wilder back in September after Selles lost all six of his games in charge.

The Blades have 10 points from 15 matches this season and are three points adrift of safety.

Since the second tier rebranded to the Championship in 2004 no team has finished above 14th from the start United have made.

Despite that, Bamford, who twice won promotion to the Premier League with Leeds, still believes the team can compete at the top end of the table.

"I think Sheffield United should always be aiming to get promoted," he said.

"I appreciate the start has not been ideal but the Championship is a league where the most important stretch is from this November international break to Easter. That period of time sets out the league almost.

"I've seen it a few times where a team has had a poor start and then puts a run of games together and they're flying into the play-offs at the right time.

"Just because we've had a slow start it doesn't mean that the season is doomed."