Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder plans January transfers
Friday 22 December 2017 10:21, UK
Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder says the club will be active in the January transfer window, after admitting his side needs "strengthening".
The Blades currently find themselves in sixth place in the Championship, but have lost four of their previous five league games.
Wilder has vowed to get the best value from the money allocated to him by the club's hierarchy, and will look to fill the gaps in his squad where possible.
"We do need strengthening," he said. "I've been given a budget to try and get the best out of and that's always decided by the owners and whatever I get I try to get the maximum out of it."
Sheffield United are preparing to lock horns with Aston Villa at Villa Park on Saturday, live on Sky Sports Football.
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Ahead of the clash, Wilder is realistic when it comes to squad depth and competing in the second tier.
"I look at our team and no disrespect; I've got a cover left-back playing central midfield last week and I've got a 17-year-old kid making his full debut in the Championship and it's a tough division," he added.
"There's no hiding place in this league so we have to be as strong as we possibly can and recruit in the best possible way to give ourselves an opportunity of winning games. You look at other squads and groups of players and there some powerful, big teams and a lot of good players on show."
Despite the need for more personnel, the Blades boss remains confident his side have the quality to deal with former Premier League mainstay Villa.
"We're in a division to have days like playing Villa away three days before Christmas in front of over 40,000 people live on Sky. We've got to embrace where we're at and our situation," said Wilder.
"We just need to tweak a few things, up our performance levels a little bit and we feel we're a match for any team in the division with the understanding the opponents are a huge, powerful football club at this level and we're going to have to play well to get a result."
Don't miss the Sky Bet Championship clash between Aston Villa and Sheffield United on Saturday, live on Sky Sports Football and Sky Sports Main Event from 5.15pm
