Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder snaps back at 'lazy' claim involving Leeds United and Burnley

Chris Wilder has branded the suggestion that Sheffield United's success this season is based on receiving Premier League parachute payments as "absolute nonsense".

The Blades, bidding to clinch an instant top flight return, sit top of the Championship after 19 matches. They are a point clear of second-placed Leeds United, having suffered just two league defeats.

Given how well Sheffield United, Leeds United and Burnley have performed in the first half of the campaign, it has led to sports broadcaster Richard Keys claiming the parachute payments system creates an unlevel playing field in the second tier of English football. “Have you looked at the top of the Championship recently?” Keys wrote in his latest blog. “Two of the top three were relegated last season - Sheff Utd and Burnley - and squeezed in between them are Leeds, who went down the previous season. Are we surprised? Rick Parry is right when he argues that parachute payments distort competition in that league.”

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Blades boss Wilder was forced to rebuild his squad following relegation. Players such as Tyrese Campbell and Callum O’Hare were signed on free transfers while ex-Leeds target Jesurun Rak-Sakyi and Alfie Gilchrist arrived on loan as part of a big summer overhaul of the team.

When asked for his view on their perceived financial advantage, Wilder told The Star: “Absolute nonsense. It’s just a lazy, lazy assumption.

“Listen, we have a competitive wage bill. The work we did in the summer was small fees, frees and loans and we brought some decent figures in as well. It’s always a cheap shot that people can use, if you do a bit of digging you’ll see. We’ve got some good players and kept some decent players, there’s no doubt about that. And the owner and the board backed us getting those players in.

“But you just have to take that with a pinch of salt and crack on. I’m just interested in the group at the moment and how well they’re doing. It doesn’t distort it. Look at that West Brom team; there are some boys still there that we couldn’t touch a few years ago. The [John] Swifts and the [Jed] Wallaces and Mikey Johnston, and other players that we went after. I’m not going to get into all that, but it’s a lazy assumption.”

Wilder, whose side visit Millwall tomorrow night, is adamant Leeds United are "miles ahead" of his Sheffield United side in the race for promotion.