Chris Wilder says Blades blowing away the Blues is ‘perfect response’ to defeat

Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder said his side gave the ‘perfect response’ to their defeat at West Brom as they beat Birmingham 3-0 in the Sky Bet Championship.

First-half goals from Tyler Bindon and Gustavo Hamer were followed by one from Patrick Bamford against a team who played more than 70 minutes at Bramall Lane a man down following the dismissal of Tommy Doyle.

Wilder said: “I’m really pleased with how we played today. That first half especially was really impressive and I couldn’t have asked for much more from my players.

“I always say the next game is your biggest opportunity to make things right and I think that was a perfect response to last Friday.

“We have a lot of respect for Tommy for what he did here and I think the red card was just a bit of frustration because the game wasn’t going the way they wanted.

“Playing against 10 men can be dangerous; sometimes the home side are expected to cruise through it but you can lose focus and slip up.

“The sending off did actually make it easier for us though. We didn’t take any risks, we kept at a high standard, we were smart in our play and we moved the ball well.

“We knew this would be a difficult game, Birmingham are a good side who can compete at the top end of the table but we didn’t give them any opportunity to get into the game.

“It was a great performance today and the players need to take all the credit for it. I’d like to wish the Blades fans a merry Christmas and hopefully we can reward them for their terrific support with a positive performance on Boxing Day.”

Birmingham boss Chris Davies said the first half was ‘one of the worst’ he has seen from his players in his time at the club.

Davies said: “We made the worst possible start today. Everything we have been working on and preparing for was undermined within five minutes.

“I’m really disappointed we gave a goal away from the corner, that’s probably the worst set-piece we’ve conceded from this season because it was far too easy.

“We have no complaints on the red card. That’s not what I want from my team and Tommy has accepted responsibility for it.

“When you’re a goal down and a man down after 20 minutes at a place like this it is always going to be an uphill battle.

“The second goal was self-inflicted. We want to try and beat the press but we made another error so we have to hold our hands up and say we got that one wrong.

“I have to say that first half was probably one of the worst we’ve had since I’ve been here. We’ve not been fantastic away from home this season and we made too many mistakes today.

“It was another packed out away end today. The fans have come in their numbers as they always do, spent their money and not got anything for it so I feel for them.

“Three of our next four games are at home, so I’ve got no doubt we’re capable of turning it around but we’ve got to go out there and do it.”