Chris Wilder's warning to Sheffield United players amid modest winter break plans as rivals head to Dubai

While some of their Premier League rivals have jetted off to the sunnier climes of Dubai, Sheffield United have remained at their Shirecliffe training base during a period that boss Chris Wilder has identified as potentially key to their survival hopes this season. After last weekend's FA Cup win at Gillingham, the Blades had a blank fortnight to prepare for their next Premier League engagement at home to West Ham on January 21.

Any hopes David Moyes may have had of getting away with his players have been scuppered by their FA Cup replay with Bristol City next Tuesday, while Arsenal are amongst the top-flight sides to pack up their gear and jet to the UAE for some warm-weather training. It's a tactic United themselves took advantage of back in 2020, during their first season back in the top-flight, before Covid-19 took hold and derailed the Blades' push for Europe.

This time around boss Wilder has elected to keep his players at the less-salubrious surroundings of Shirecliffe as he enjoys some much-anticipated time to instil his methods and demands after a relentless schedule since he returned to Bramall Lane just over a month ago. "One of the messages, when I spoke to the players, was: 'Get ready'," Wilder said. "I told them that there's going to be a lot of hard work that needs to go in.

"We've not had enough time on the training pitch. There will be time for players to recover, but this is a working period for us. We'll work through that as hard as we possibly can, putting in the relevant information to hopefully make us better."

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Wilder will still be unable to complete the body of work he would like to, however, after claiming that as many as 14 players were unavailable for the 4-0 FA Cup win at Priestfield. Anis Slimane and Yasser Larouci are away on African Cup of Nations duty while Jayden Bogle missed the long trip to Kent through concussion protocols after being hit in the back of the head with a ball in training.

"We've got loads of work to do. We'll work all the way through," Wilder added. "Coming in with different ideas and a new approach, we haven't had too much time to work with the players. But to be fair to them, their attitude has been first-class towards us and everything we've wanted to do."