Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder believes his side are “getting punished for winning games of football” as he bemoaned a hectic schedule following a hard-fought 2-0 win against Plymouth.
A Gustavo Hamer screamer and Kieffer Moore penalty were enough to give the Blades victory and send them back to the top of the Sky Bet Championship.
But Plymouth had plenty of chances, and Wilder said: “That was a tough watch for myself and the supporters. I think that kind of game sums up the Championship.
“I’ve got to give credit to Wayne (Rooney) and his coaching staff. Plymouth were undoubtedly the better side in the first half. They moved us about, pressed us better and had the better chances.
“Our quality wasn’t very good and we kept giving the ball away cheaply. No excuses, we weren’t great in that first half.
“We felt a lot more comfortable in the second half. There wasn’t any complacency or arrogance from us; I feel we had the better moments without being totally over the line until we got the penalty.
“We were never completely safe. Michael (Cooper) has had to make a big save from the header, he delivered for us when he was needed. It was also a terrific performance and goal from Gustavo (Hamer).
“It’s a ridiculous schedule – we’re getting punished for winning games of football. We’re getting so stretched; especially the young boys who are not used to playing three games in such a short space of time at the top end of the Championship.
“We didn’t take this game lightly. We know we can’t be arrogant; Plymouth have had a few beatings on the road but they’ve got a pretty solid home record. They’re well coached and they can be a dangerous team.
“We weren’t sloppy or loose, we set up as best we could. This can happen to you in the Championship. Maybe I blame myself. Perhaps we should have made more changes and that’s a learning curve for me.
“We have to accept we might have afternoons like this but when we do we have to dig deep and today we have done.”
Plymouth manager Wayne Rooney said his side need to start turning good performances into positive results.
“We’re obviously disappointed with the result. I don’t think anyone watching that can say we deserved to lose the game,” Rooney said.
“I’ve got to give credit to Sheffield United, that’s what they can do to you. They’re very efficient and good in both boxes and we felt the full force of that.
“I think we saw a really improved performance but we fell short. We missed some good opportunities throughout the game and we were punished for that.
“As the game went on I thought we could get something out of it but it opened up towards the end and when we conceded the penalty the game was done.
“We were probing and getting into good areas but the last bit wasn’t quite there, which is something we have to work on.
“In recent away games we’ve caved in after going a goal down but I was really pleased with our reaction today, we showed a real resilience.
“We know we’ve had some really bad performances and results away from home but there are lots of positives to take away from the game.
“We were the better team, just like in the last game against Swansea, but we lost then and we lost again here. We know we need to turn these positive performances into results.
“We’ve got a difficult Christmas period ahead, as does every team in this league, but we have to keep digging in. We’ll move on from this and take next week to prepare ahead of another tough game.”
