Chris Wilder likes what he sees as Sheffield United get their first win

Proud Chris Wilder said it “felt great” as Sheffield United earned their first win of the season with a much-needed 1-0 victory against Oxford.

The Blades had lost their first six games in the Sky Bet Championship, scoring just once in the process, but Callum O’Hare’s second-half goal was enough to secure a slender victory over Gary Rowett’s team.

The Sheffield United manager said: “It felt great for the players and the supporters. It’s been a tough period for everybody, I’ve watched from afar and I’ve watched from close by over the last couple of weeks.

“The players wanted to leave everything out there, which they did. The second half performance was more like us, more composed, more calm, more belief. I thought there was some really good performances out there.

“We got out (of) the traps, created some good opportunities, (I’m) really pleased with our play, and then we had to do what we had to do late on.

“I think you’ve got to accept we’re on a losing streak, so it’s not going to be free-flowing.

“I never thought it would be free-flowing last week, I didn’t think we’d turn a 5-0 defeat into a 5-0 victory, we didn’t give the supporters the result they deserved last week.”

He added: “It was a bit scrappy, a bit bitty first half, but we calmed them down at half-time.

“Believe in the process, believe in how we go about trying to win a game of football with and without the ball and I thought they showed good qualities this afternoon.

“They’re good players here and they’ve been good players wherever else they’ve been, (Chiedozie) Ogbene was great, (Mark) McGuinness was fabulous, Ben Mee, the whole back three.”

Rowett spoke of his frustration after Oxford’s three-match unbeaten run was ended, claiming Oxford keep leaving the door ajar.

He explained: “We know where Sheffield United are in the league and that they’re not at their most confident, but they’ve still got a very good squad, very good players.

“I think it’s a sign of respect the way they came and set up, it felt like to go and frustrate us and maybe nick a point or get something on the break, but I thought we limited them to very little in the first half.

“First half was another very, very good performance, maybe a little bit of quality in the last action wasn’t quite there with the crossing but I thought it was a really dominant first half performance.

“Then second half we knew it would be a little more even, but what you can’t do is allow one moment, one ball, free in the box, takes a touch, finds the corner and we didn’t have that luxury.

“We’re throwing balls in the box, Greg hits the post, they’re defending for their lives and it just feels like we keep leaving the door ajar for teams to get something out of the game when it should be a 0-0 but we go away with something.

“We’ve had three home games where we’ve taken two points and we need to do more than that, which is the frustrating bit.”