Chris Wilder claim on Cardiff City ace didn’t come to fruition, the former Sheffield United man could come back to haunt them

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Sheffield United and Cardiff City both enter the Easter Weekend needing a win more than most in the Championship, with neither able to afford a defeat at this stage in the season.

Chris Wilder has lost three on the bounce and Wilder’s ‘tinpot’ behaviour has been evident of late in terms of the pressure getting to the Blades’ chief. They enter another banana skin game against the Bluebirds this weekend.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	LeedsLeeds	42	25	13	4	82	29	53	88
2	BurnleyBurnley	42	24	16	2	57	13	44	88
3	Sheff UtdSheffield Utd	42	26	7	9	57	33	24	83
4	SunderlandSunderland	42	21	13	8	57	38	19	76
5	Bristol CityBristol City	42	16	16	10	54	45	9	64
6	CoventryCoventry	42	18	9	15	59	54	5	63

Cardiff need a win, that much is certain, with Opta’s supercomputer backing them to go down currently. A win at Bramall Lane could spark their season into life with four games to go, giving them an edge in the relegation run-in.

Sheffield United will hope Cardiff’s poor run continues, given the miserable record they have against the Blades. But the Blades have fallen apart, with three straight defeats against Oxford United, Millwall, and Plymouth Argyle, which should instill Cardiff with some confidence.

READ MORE: Leeds and Burnley will fear Southampton fate as gulf between Premier League and Championship continues to grow

Chris Wilder’s Callum Robinson praise ahead of Sheffield United return

Neil Warnock has been full of praise for Wilder, with the 76-year-old managing both clubs but sharing a boyhood club with the boss of the South Yorkshire outfit. An EFL Analysis exclusive revealed that Warnock could be in line for a return to Cardiff to replace Omer Riza.

Experts are predicting the mini-league at the bottom to be crucial and one player who has been a big differential in many of those fixtures this season is Callum Robinson. Only four players in the second tier have more than the 12 goals he has struck for Cardiff.

He is also a player who Wilder knows well, having signed him for Sheffield United for a club-record fee in 2019. He predicted big things for Robinson in a red and white shirt but he didn’t stay with the Blades for long after Wilder’s verdict.

Speaking via The Athletic in January 2020, he said: “Callum is a young player we identified over a number of years. He got off to a great start and is going to be a player here for a number of years.

”We just thought, in the best interests of his development with where he’s at, he needs to get regular football. That opportunity came in the Championship.

“A number of clubs were interested in him. As I’ve always said, first and foremost this club’s results are huge. But the development is key for Callum. This is his first year in the Premier League and we have got to think, how best do we develop him?

“We have got to look at what is best for the player at the moment. We think it is a really good move to a fantastic club under a great manager.

“Hopefully, he develops there and we feel the benefits of that in the future. He is part of our long-term plans. He started in great fashion.

“This a good move for us as a club, a great move for Callum — there’s no downside to this at all.

“Callum sees his future here but he is also excited about going to help West Brom in what he hopes will be a successful second part of the season.”

Not long after that, he made his switch to West Brom a permanent one. That was before he joined Cardiff, where he is a key player in South Wales. The versatile forward will be looking to score against his former employers and to rub the salt in the wound for Wilder and the supporters who once cheered him on.

• READ MORE: How many points Leeds United and Burnley need to gain promotion if Sheffield United win, lose, or draw vs Cardiff

Callum Robinson’s 2024/25 season stats for Cardiff

In many ways, Friday would be the time to do it for Robinson, having scored or assisted 13 goals in 28 matchdays between the third game of the season and the 31st. Since then, he has failed to register a single goal involvement.

His quality is still evident in flashes, and there are very few players you would want the ball to fall to in Cardiff’s team than Robinson. He can shoot off both feet and create something out of nothing for himself.

It would be very much in keeping with recent Sheffield United form, and of the Championship as a league in and of itself, if Robinson were to haunt his former side with the winner; all but ending their automatic promotion hopes in the process.