The Blades had a chance to take the lead from the penalty spot early on, but Anthony Patterson saved well from Kieffer Moore. Goals from Eliezer Mayenda and Wilson Isidor either side of a Luke O’Nien goal were enough to secure the points for Sunderland, cutting the gap between the two teams in the table to just two points.
Wilder felt his side were perhaps unlucky not to get more from their pressure in the second half but was disappointed with their play both in and out of possession across the opening 45.
The Sheffield United boss feels his squad are suffering from a raft of injuries which are limiting his opportunities to rotate, though he added that Sunderland are in a very similar position as things stand.
“We had a big moment after 15 minutes to put us in control, which we didn’t take,” Wilder said.
“Then we make two really poor mistakes from our point of view. We were loose in possession in the first half and they countered on us pretty well, and then the second half we were a little bit better. The goals that we’ve conceded are very uncharacteristic of us and I’ve got to say congratulations to the manager and players of Sunderland because they defended with their lives in the last 10 minutes. We piled it on but we have to look at ourselves first and foremost. We got into a lot of good positions and we didn’t find that bit of quality. It’s been two tight games, two good teams between two teams doing well this season. There were maybe a few opinions that they deserved more from the game at our place; from my point of view, we deserved a bit more from the second half in that once.
“I felt we could always score in the game; the shape was good and we just turned it over too cheaply. We didn’t cross enough and didn’t ask enough questions of the centre halves. We got back on level terms and then made another mistake. I never felt we got the cup open; it was just loose play from our point of view and that allows them to take those opportunities. Players will make mistakes, especially when they’re tired. I’d have liked to have made more changes but we understand the situation [with our injuries]. To be fair, Sunderland are in a similar position on that front.”
Wilder is not expecting any players to return for the trip to Norwich City this weekend but is anticipating having a far stronger squad after the FA Cup third round weekend. He also said that he hopes to have bolstered his squad with additions in the transfer market by that stage after positive discussions with the club’s new board.
