'Don't give a monkey's...' - Chris Wilder's tough love for Sheffield United's players after Luton frustration

Chris Wilder admitted he "doesn't give a monkey's" how his Sheffield United players are feeling after challenging them to react to the disappointment of their Boxing Day defeat to Luton. Two own goals in the space of four minutes saw United surrender a 2-1 lead to lose 3-2 against one of their direct rivals for Premier League survival this season.

While Luton were left celebrating back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time, Unitedites were left to reflect on another huge blow to their own hopes of remaining in the Premier League this season. At the halfway point in their season Wilder's men have nine points and are seven points adrift of fourth-bottom Everton.

The tasks don't exactly get any easier, either, with a trip to Pep Guardiola's reigning champions Manchester City next up at the Etihad on Saturday. City return to Premier League action this evening against Everton after their Club World Cup victory over Fluminense recently and will be desperate for points as they look to make up the ground they have lost of late in their quest for yet another top-flight title.

Asked after the Luton disappointment how important it was that United's players don't feel sorry for themselves, Wilder replied: "I’ve been in this position before, when you guys say about feeling sorry ... I really don’t give a monkey's about how they feel. I don’t. They're professional footballers, it’s up to them to get themselves back. You've heard me speak before ... we had a situation with Dean Henderson when he let one through his legs against Liverpool and everybody was saying I can’t be too hard on the kid.

McBurnie sums up frustration as Luton defeat sees Blades take two steps back

"I keep saying, look at an American football linebacker who misses a tackle in a divisional play-off or whatever. Their coach is not coming in and going: 'Unlucky mate, next time'. Everybody’s got to be accountable for what’s going off and the attitude is key. This is Premier League football, the best football in the world, and these boys have got to have that attitude of being strong mentally. They've got to show unbelievable qualities technically, and tactically they’ve got to be astute and take on board. And we haven’t done that because they’re really poor goals. I’m not there to rub their heads. I’m their biggest supporter and I’ve been unbelievably complimentary of them because they deserve that, and I’m saying it as it is like I’ve always done. Here we go, come on. Unlucky? It’s not, it’s poor. It’s poor."

Wilder was unhappy at the manner of United's defeat to Luton, snatched from the jaws of victory with two own goals in the space of four minutes when his side were 2-1 ahead and looking great value for a huge win. Two crosses into the box from Luton substitute Carlton Morris saw Jack Robinson and Anis Slimane put through their own net, after Oli McBurnie and Anel Ahmedhodzic had turned the game around following Alfie Doughty's opener which squeezed through the legs of Wes Foderingham.

Two 4/10s in Sheffield United player ratings v Luton Town

"It’s poor in terms of approach and attitude," Wilder continued. "It’s poor that we didn’t get out to stop the cross. It’s poor that, whatever happened, whether It’s a combination of goalkeeper and centre-halves, we’ve not got out of the box. We’ve not squeezed up out of the box. We got punished Friday night [at Ason Villa] and we got punished today, so we can only look at ourselves. We have to get back on the bike pretty quickly because they have to show that attitude and mentality.

"'Right, okay, the manager's had a bit of a nip and we’ve got to show that we can individually and collectively cut out these'. I was looking to my right a lot in the second half. They maybe edged the first half but you can’t just turn a game over like that in terms of the work that we did and whatever we had to do, from our point of view, to get ourselves back into the game and get our noses in front. Doing a lot of things great, really good, really good, and then just go 'there you go' and toss the three points over. I don’t think that was earned by them; it was given by us."