{"id":76874,"date":"2026-02-23T16:12:21","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T16:12:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sheffieldwire.co.uk\/?p=76874"},"modified":"2026-02-23T16:51:34","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T16:51:34","slug":"is-derby-day-victory-a-springboard-for-blades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sheffieldwire.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/02\/23\/is-derby-day-victory-a-springboard-for-blades\/","title":{"rendered":"Is derby day victory a springboard for Blades?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
A derby win of any kind is a good day for any football fan. But Sheffield United’s steel-city derby win on Sunday was particularly special.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Blades’ 2-1 win at Bramall Lane meant they were not only able to relegate arch-rivals Sheffield Wednesday to League One, but also able to push themselves to within six-points of the play-off spots.<\/p>\n\n\n\nDjibril Soumare (left) and Japhet Tanganga (right) celebrate (Sheffield United via X)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
One United fan said: “It’s the biggest game of the season, it were like a cup final at the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“To relegate your biggest rivals, what more could you want.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After losing their first six league games of the season, many Blades fans would have been forgiven for thinking that they too would be facing the drop down to the third division.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But after four wins in their last six, the Blades can set their sights on an immediate return to the Premier League.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite reducing the gap to six points, due to the highly competitive nature of the Championship the Blades still sit in 14th place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another fan said: “It’s gonna be tough, their are a lot of teams above us and they are all fighting for that sixth place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“But fingers crossed it could be our season. Although I’m not holding out too much hope.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If United are going to make a late push for promotion, they will want to sort out their recent disciplinary record. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chris Wilders’ men lead the division in red cards with four and Kalvin Philips’ in Sunday’s derby gave a clear example of how important keeping 11 men on the pitch will be going into the final ten games of the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“When it were 11 against 11 we absolutely murdered Wednesday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“But we had that player sent off five minutes into the second half and it looked nip and tuck for a while.”<\/p>\n\n\n\nChris Wilder applauds his team after the final whistle (Sheffield United via X)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Manager Chris Wilder has, however, rejected the idea that his team has a disciplinary issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“These things happen, I don’t think we are a reckless team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We had a couple of boys there that mistimed their challenges and they have paid the price.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A derby win of any kind is a good day for any football fan. But Sheffield United’s steel-city derby win on Sunday was particularly special. The Blades’ 2-1 win at Bramall Lane meant they were not only able to relegate arch-rivals Sheffield Wednesday to League One, but also able to push themselves to within six-points […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":260,"featured_media":77030,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[27,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
Is derby day victory a springboard for Blades? - Sheffield Wire<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sheffieldwire.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/02\/23\/is-derby-day-victory-a-springboard-for-blades\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is derby day victory a springboard for Blades? - Sheffield Wire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A derby win of any kind is a good day for any football fan. But Sheffield United’s steel-city derby win on Sunday was particularly special. 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