Three glaring issues Chris Wilder must resolve when he is reappointed as Sheffield United manager

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Chris Wilder is set to make a sensational return to Bramall Lane to become Sheffield United manager for a third time.

Ruben Selles was sacked by the Blades after failing to pick up a single point this season.

A 5-0 loss against Ipswich Town was the final straw for the owners, who have admitted defeat and decided to bring the fan favourite back to the club.

Wilder wants to get his feet under the table quickly, but he is walking into a very different side following a depressing start to the season.

With that, here are three things that the Blades legend must address when he returns to the club.

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Stop leaking goals

Let’s make no bones about it, the Sheffield United defence has been awful.

The Blades have conceded 12 goals from their first five games. That’s the joint-highest in the league, and level with Sheffield Wednesday and Queens Park Rangers.

Losing Anel Ahmedhodzic to Feyenoord was a bitter blow and while there have been plenty of additions from Ben Mee to Japhet Tanganga, it hasn’t helped stem the flow of goals going in.

Under Wilder, the Blades have always been strong defensively and they need to return to that level.

Get the best out of the new summer signings

Sheffield United have been using an AI-focused data-driven model to bring in new players, but it’s fair to say that none have really hit the ground running.

Louie Barry is yet to get off the mark while Tyler Bindon has been part of the defence leaking goals left, right and centre.

A raft of new signings came in towards the end of the transfer window and will need a settling-in period, but the Blades are already way off the pace and are in desperate need of adding points on the board if they want to keep their promotion hopes alive.

Adapt to life without key players

Failing to earn promotion came at a cost as the entire spine of the team assembled by Wilder was ripped up.

As well as Ahmedhodzic, Vinicius Souza left for Wolfsburg and Kieffer Moore signed for Championship rivals Wrexham.

These were all players that were the pillars of success and the trio’s absence has been felt greatly.

This is the time for new heroes to step up though and it is up to Wilder to help unearth those.