Sheffield United

Sheffield United goalkeeper Michael Cooper is an injury doubt for the game against Queens Park Rangers on Saturday (15:00 BST), boss Chris Wilder has confirmed.

The stopper was substituted off at half-time during their loss to Coventry City in the week with a back issue.

"Michael never came off with something that was innocuous, he's come off because he couldn't carry on so he's doubtful," Wilder told BBC Radio Sheffield.

"We are doing our best, everybody is and Michael himself, to get him ready for Saturday and if he's not, we will assess it through the international break."

Gustavo Hamer is set to return to training on Monday and may return for the game against Sheffield Wednesday after the international break, with Ollie Arblaster also aiming to play a role in the game at Hillsborough for his first appearance for the side in 12 months.

Tahith Chong, however, will be a week behind Hamer and is not likely to feature against the Owls.

Listen to the full interview with Wilder and more Sheffield United content on BBC Sounds.

Image source, Opta

Sheffield United begin the Championship weekend back in the bottom two as they welcome QPR on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

The Blades allowed a 1-0 lead to slip to a 3-1 defeat at leaders Coventry on Tuesday night to suffer a third straight defeat and 11th in 14 games.

They lie seven places and nine points behind 16th-placed QPR, who suffered a third straight defeat of their own at home to Southampton on the same night.

The Hoops have lost four of their past five league games, though had taken 10 points from four away games before a 1-0 defeat at Derby in their most recent match on the road.

• Since losing three in a row against the Rs between August 2010 and October 2017, Sheffield United have only lost one of their past nine league games against Queens Park Rangers (W6 D2).

• Queens Park Rangers have avoided defeat in their past two away league games against Sheffield United (W1 D1), last doing so in more consecutive trips to the Blades between 1992 and 1997 (a run of five).

• Sheffield United have lost their past three Championship games and conceded three goals in each defeat. They have never previously conceded 3+ goals in four straight matches in the second tier (or lower).

• After losing his first league game against Queens Park Rangers in charge of Sheffield United (0-1 in October 2017), Chris Wilder is unbeaten in his past five against them in the Football League with the Blades (W4 D1).

• Callum O'Hare has been directly involved in 55% of Sheffield United's goals in the Championship this season (6/11 – four goals, two assists), with this the highest percentage by any player for a team in the division in 2025-26.

Adam Oxley
BBC Radio Sheffield journalist

Image source, Shutterstock

Bonfire Night is an apt time to be writing about Sheffield United with the Blades needing more than a rocket to ignite their failing season.

I'm sure manager Chris Wilder would happily consign this campaign to the pyre if he could.

Unfortunately he can't, as he picks through the charred remains of the play-off team he re-built in an increasingly testing task to simply keep his club in the Championship.

Last season wasn't quite 'New Year on the banks of the Thames' – that was more Leeds and Burnley.

But it felt like Wilder had fountains, Roman Candles and Catherine Wheels at his disposal - this year he barely has a sparkler, with the Bramall Lane fireworks remaining unlit.

The scale of the damage caused by United's American owners and Spaniard Ruben Selles during 89 days this summer is still coming to light.

It could be argued that none of the 14 new recruits in the off-season have improved the squad from last season's promotion charge, as COH Sports sought to go in a new direction under a relatively inexperienced boss.

Wilder-type signings arrived late in the window, but even they look a shadow of the kind of players who could have been bought or borrowed if the boyhood Blade had not been dismissed in the wake of their play-off final defeat.

Japhet Tanganga is the one player who has added quality to the Blades squad, but United spent good money on the former Millwall and Spurs man, and he's been playing out of position due to limited options at right-back.

Djibril Soumare has shown enough to suggest he's a player worth continuing to develop, but he's only on loan.

Ben Mee adds experience at the back, but he's not the player he once was. Tahith Chong seems a solid signing, but he managed only three substitute appearances before getting injured.

Former Crystal Palace midfielder Jairo Riedewald has arrived under Wilder on a short-term deal and looks like he's added positively to options in the middle of the park, but he's still no Vini Souza, who departed in the summer.

And that's where the positives appear to end with supporters wishing they still had the likes of Kieffer Moore, Anel Ahmedhodzic, Jack Robinson, Souza, Ben Brereton-Diaz, Rhian Brewster, Hamza Choudhury, Alfie Gilchrist, Harry Clarke, Rob Holding, Harry Souttar and Jesurun Rak-Sakyi.

In May, Sheffield United and Coventry City both lost to Sunderland in the Championship play-offs.

Right now, after the Blades' 3-1 defeat at the CBS Arena on Tuesday night, the Sky Blues are five points clear of third at the top of the table, while United have become the first second-tier team to lose 11 of their first 14 league games since Wimbledon in 2003-04, sitting three points adrift in the relegation zone.

Most people still believe the Blades have enough quality to get clear of the drop zone. Recent wins against Blackburn and Watford showed progress, with performances at Preston and Coventry offering enough to have taken points on another day.

But the longer United stay in the bottom three, concede soft goals, fail to take chances and make individual errors, the more it will feel like the club is in a battle for survival, if it isn't already.

Wilder is preparing to put a rocket under his squad in January, with battle plans drawn and already with the board for multiple ins and outs, but the Blades can't wait for the transfer window to open for results to improve.

Now is the time to light the fire. There are as many games to play between now and the end of January (16) as there are between the close of the window and the end of the season.

November and December will define United's season, and to a large extent, who they could recruit in the New Year.

At the start of the summer, Blades fans were hoping there would be fireworks next May to herald a return to the Premier League.

As things stand, the same supporters would probably settle for securing their place in the second tier with not so much as a fizzle.

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder felt that a 3-1 defeat at league leaders Coventry was not a fair reflection of the match but that there are "obvious" changes he needs to make when the transfer window opens in January.

"We just can't feel sorry for ourselves. We're disappointed, it didn't look like a team at the bottom of the division versus one at the top who are flying. We were well in the game right until the 94th minute," he told BBC Radio Sheffield.

"We have to defend our goal better, you've seen the second one and the first one we've not tracked a runner. It's a long throw that we've got to deal with.

"There were lots of encouraging signs in the first half, I thought the attitude of the team was really good. I thought the way we played, we caused them problems.

"We were always in it but that isn't enough for me because we haven't got anything from it.

"I'm learning about certain things left, right and centre and January can't come quick enough, as you can imagine, to make the obvious changes that we need to make to give ourselves a better chance going forward."

Coventry City will be looking to get back to winning ways after suffering their first loss of the season at Wrexham on Friday. They welcome struggling Sheffield United to the CBS Arena on Tuesday (20:00 GMT).

The Sky Blues remain top of the table by three points over Middlesbrough. Meanwhile, Sheffield United are 22nd in the Championship after back-to-back defeats by Preston and Derby.

The Blades are three points adrift of safety as they head south to face the league leaders.

• Coventry City have lost only one of their past 10 home league games against Sheffield United (W6 D3), a 2-1 loss in December 2016 in League One.

• Sheffield United are unbeaten in their past three league meetings with Coventry City (W2 D1), last going four without loss against the Sky Blues between December 2007 and March 2009 (W3 D1).

• Coventry City are unbeaten in each of their past nine home league games (W7 D2), last going 10 without defeat at the CBS Arena between October 2019 and September 2020 (run of 11).

• Sheffield United have lost exactly half of their 18 away games in the Championship in 2025, winning the other half – the Blades last suffered 10+ defeats outside of the top-flight on the road in a calendar year in 2013 (13 in League One).

• Sheffield United's Gustavo Hamer has either scored (1) or assisted (1) in both of his two league appearances against former club Coventry – he also grabbed an assist in his final appearance against the Blades for Coventry on Boxing Day 2022, meaning he has been involved in a goal in each of the past three fixtures between these two sides.

Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder spoke to BBC Radio Sheffield after Saturday's 3-1 defeat by Derby County.

"We are killing ourselves. We get in at half-time and the game was going to be the game we thought – counter-attack, Carton Morris, into Carlton Morris, off Carlton Morris," he said.

"That is the way they play, and it's no criticism because I'd rather be their manager tonight than ours.

"They have not really had to work hard for all three of their goals. And we never get gifts like that - a free header inside the six yard box, we never get that clear cut chance that they got [for Morris' second] and it would be nice to get something regarding the penalty decision that they got.

"We have to go again, keep trying harder and keep working harder during the week. I don't think we are a million miles off winning games and being a decent side, but really it's a step back in terms of results over the past two games."

Sheffield United will look to escape the bottom three as they host Derby County on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

The Blades are one point below 21st placed Blackburn Rovers, winning two of their past three games but losing their latest outing against Preston North End.

However, Derby County are also looking for space away from the bottom and have won both their previous two games to provide a five point gap between themselves and their hosts on the table.

• Sheffield United have won four of their last five league games against Derby County (L1), winning both fixtures during last season 1-0.

• Derby County have lost each of their last four away league games against Sheffield United, failing to score in each of their last two visits to Bramall Lane.

• Sheffield United have won two of their last three league games (L1), as many victories as across their prior 12 matches combined (D1 L9).

• Derby have won their last two Championship games 1-0, last winning three consecutive second tier matches to nil in January 2021 under Wayne Rooney (all 1-0).

• Sheffield United have netted just nine goals in the Championship this season, the fewest of any side. It's also the fewest that the Blades have netted after 12 matches of a league season outside the top-flight since 2010-11 (also 9), a campaign that ended in relegation to the third tier.

Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder was at a loss to explain how his side came away empty-handed from Friday night's trip to Preston.

The Blades threw away a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 at Deepdale as their hopes of a third successive win bit the dust.

"How we've not walked away with three points is unbelievable, but we only have ourselves to blame," Wilder told BBC Radio Sheffield.

"The game plan in terms of setting it up worked in our favour - we set traps, we pounced, we countered and looked a really good side, but we have to put teams to bed.

"Then we have to realise, coming up to half-time, that there's game management.

"It's a team that's learning. Their boys sprinted down the tunnel, we conceded a free-kick straight after half-time to allow them to put the ball in our box, the boy wins a header and it comes off Japh [Tanganga] and all of a sudden it's game on at two each.

"We're unfortunate with the third goal as Mark McGuinness gets a whack and is desperately trying to get back into the middle of the goal."

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder has expressed his admiration towards former colleague and current Preston North End boss Paul Heckingbottom before Friday evening's match (20:00 BST) between the sides.

Heckingbottom was brought to the Blades by Wilder in 2020 to manage the under-23s and he eventually became the permanent boss, gaining promotion with the club in 2023.

Wilder told BBC Radio Sheffield: "I know Paul well, so I have a lot of admiration and respect for Paul. I'm sure people realise it was me who brought him into the football club.

"He's a good character and he knows the culture and values of our football club, and I'm sure he's trying to implement those cultures and values from his successful time here, into Preston North End."

Preston have had an inconsistent start to the season having lost their past two games and winning just two of their past eight league fixtures.

"We're all after that consistency, so there's been down days for Paul as much as there's been the up days," Wilder added.

"They've started the season on the front foot and got themselves into a good position, but as the competition is, you can win games but you can lose.

"They've lost their last two and they'll not want to lose three on the spin. We'll want to win three on the spin and they'll want to turn that around, so [it should be a] really competitive [game].

"I always look at Preston North End's squad and it's always full of good loans and really experienced Championship players, so it's always a tough test home and away and we're expecting nothing else."

Listen to the full interview and more on BBC Sounds.