Wilder laments Sheffield United 'naivety' after Preston comeback

Chris Wilder slammed Sheffield United's "naivety", claiming it "hurt" them as they let a lead slip in a 3-2 loss to Preston North End on Friday.

The Blades' season had started to look up after back-to-back wins, and they started strong at Deepdale, with Andre Brooks and Callum O'Hare, who scored a stunning solo effort, netting in the opening 16 minutes.

However, Lewis Dobbin pulled a goal back for Preston on the stroke of half-time, before Japhet Tanganga's own goal 52 seconds after the break pulled the hosts level.

Former United striker Daniel Jebbison then clinched the match-winner in the 58th minute with a powerful header, with Wilder's side unable to find an equaliser – O'Hare dragged wide from close range in the 71st minute.

Frustratingly for Wilder, United finished with 2.4 expected goals (xG) from their 12 attempts, higher than Preston's 1.6; however, they scored with all three of their efforts on target (15 shots overall).

And the United boss was left to lament missed opportunities from his side, who now sit just one point above the relegation zone.

"At both ends of the pitch, we had enough opportunities," Wilder told Sky Sports.

"I thought in the first five minutes we made some really poor decisions, they started the game on the front foot, but after that our play was really good.

"I thought we got the press right, we forced them into situations and traps, broke it up and scored two good goals. We should have been three or four up at half-time.

"I'm not a manager that says every opportunity we score, but we had enough chances, and then the decision-making and the feel of the game is completely different at half-time if we make better decisions. The goal gave them a huge lift.

"Naivety from our play has hurt us. I know Paul [Heckingbottom] will possibly see it a different way from me, but the result was basically there for us to cap off a fabulous week, and we've sort of handed the game back to them in terms of our actions and what we did."

Preston, meanwhile, rose up to fifth with that victory and won after trailing at half-time in the Championship for the first time since April 2024 against Huddersfield Town.

It was also their first win over United since April 2018, ending a winless run of eight games against the Blades.

Paul Heckingbottom, who spent two years in charge of United, was thrilled with his side’s reaction to going behind.

"It's a really good win, the main thing for us is we kept our heads," he told Sky Sports.

"We started brilliantly, then we had a 10 or 15-minute spell when we totally went off the rails, and that was the message at half-time.

"We're really disappointed with the goals we've given away, but really proud of the players once again. It's just ironic that's probably our worst performance of the three we've had, and it's the one game we've won."