‘Brilliant’ Patrick Bamford cheers Chris Wilder as Blades climb out of drop zone

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder said he hopes Patrick Bamford can extend his stay at the club after the striker scored on his full debut in their 3-0 home win against 10-man Portsmouth.

After Sydie Peck’s penalty had given the Blades an interval lead, Bamford bundled home his first goal in 19 months before substitute Gus Hamer’s brilliant 25-yard effort sealed the win, which lifted them out of the Sky Bet Championship’s bottom three.

Pompey had been reduced to 10 men shortly before the interval when defender Terry Devlin was shown a straight red card after handling Japhet Tanganga’s header on the goal-line, with Peck converting the resulting penalty.

Bamford joined the Blades earlier this month as a free agent following his summer release from Leeds and signed a short-term contract until January.

Wilder said: “He’s been brilliant to work with. The number nine situation we have talked about at length and I’d obviously like to work with Pat a lot longer, so we’ll see where that goes.

“I’m sure he’s enjoying his time here and we’re looking a threat at the top of the pitch – just seeing what we’ve got as well with Gus coming on and finding that fabulous finish as well, so we’ve got real good options and combinations to play with.”

The Blades halted a four-game winless run with victory in Sunday’s Steel City derby at Hillsborough and back-to-back wins saw them leapfrog Oxford out of the relegation zone.

Wilder added: “A clean sheet means a lot. We were playing against 10 men, but you still have to do the right things, enjoy being a good player, don’t be bored of making good decisions, don’t be bored of doing the right things.

“It was a little mini-test for us coming off the back of Sunday and the euphoria of a resounding 3-0 win at our local rivals because I think a lot of people would be looking to see what our reaction would have been like after Sunday afternoon. I thought it was really good.”

Portsmouth boss John Mousinho had no complaints with Devlin’s straight red card but was disappointed his side allowed Tanganga to win the header from a corner.

Mousinho said: “There was absolutely nothing in the game up until that point, and obviously it changed from from there onwards.

“It was a really solid away performance up until then, I think about the 38th minute, a really solid away performance, nothing in the game whatsoever.

“It was about aggression and mentality and making sure that that man (Tanganga) didn’t win the first contact.

“There’s plenty of players that have that aggression and show that mentality and at the minute we’re simply not doing it.”