Sheffield United’s rollercoaster week in the Championship took another wild turn on Friday night at Deepdale, as Chris Wilder’s men squandered a 2-0 lead and ultimately fell 3-2 to Preston North End. Coming off a string of promising results that had lifted the Blades out of the relegation zone, this match was supposed to be the one to cap off a “fabulous week,” as Wilder himself put it. Instead, it turned into a bitter lesson in game management and missed opportunities.
It all started so brightly for United. Within the opening 16 minutes, the visitors looked every bit a side on the rise. Andre Brooks struck first, followed by a stunning solo effort from Callum O’Hare. The Blades were pouncing on their chances, pressing high and countering with intent. “The game plan in terms of setting it up worked in our favour—we set traps, we pounced, we countered and looked a really good side,” Wilder told BBC Radio Sheffield. For a moment, it seemed like Sheffield United were destined for their third straight league win.
But football, as everyone knows, rarely sticks to the script. Just before the halftime whistle, Lewis Dobbin pulled a goal back for Preston, giving the hosts a crucial lifeline. That single moment seemed to shift the entire mood in the stadium and, more importantly, in the United camp. Wilder later reflected, “We have to realise, coming up to half-time, that there’s game management. It’s a team that’s learning.”
Whatever was said in the dressing rooms at halftime, it was Preston who came out sharper. Just 52 seconds after the restart, disaster struck for United as Japhet Tanganga inadvertently turned the ball into his own net, leveling the score at 2-2. Suddenly, all the momentum was with the home side. “We conceded a free-kick straight after half-time to allow them to put the ball in our box, the boy wins a header and it comes off Japh [Tanganga] and all of a sudden it’s game on at two each,” Wilder recounted, the frustration evident in his voice.
The Blades tried to steady themselves, but the blows kept coming. In the 58th minute, former United striker Daniel Jebbison rose highest in the box to head home what would prove to be the winner for Preston. It was a cruel twist—Jebbison, once a hero in red and white, now the architect of their downfall. “We’re unfortunate with the third goal as Mark McGuinness gets a whack and is desperately trying to get back into the middle of the goal,” Wilder explained, referencing the chaos that led to Jebbison’s decisive strike.
Sheffield United did have their chances to snatch something from the match. O’Hare, already on the scoresheet, missed a golden opportunity from close range in the 71st minute, dragging his shot wide when it looked easier to score. The Blades ended the night with 12 attempts and a 2.4 expected goals (xG) tally, well above Preston’s 1.6, but it was the hosts who were ruthlessly efficient, converting all three of their shots on target.
Wilder didn’t hold back in his post-match assessment, lamenting both the naivety of his side and their inability to capitalize when on top. “At both ends of the pitch, we had enough opportunities,” he told Sky Sports. “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.”
He continued, “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.”
For Preston North End, the result was historic and sweet. The win not only propelled them up to fifth in the Championship table, but also marked their first victory over Sheffield United since April 2018, snapping an eight-game winless streak against the Blades. Even more remarkable, it was the first time Preston had won after trailing at halftime in the Championship since April 2024, when they overcame Huddersfield Town.
Paul Heckingbottom, who spent two years in charge of United and now helms Preston, was both relieved and proud of his team’s resilience. “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.”
For Sheffield United, the defeat leaves them just one point above the relegation zone. It’s a far cry from the optimism sparked by their recent run of three wins in five games, including a gutsy comeback at Ewood Park that had seemed to turn the narrative around the club. Wilder had praised his squad’s “desire and drive” after that performance, saying, “The boys have suffered a lot and you have to own that, understand that and accept that responsibility. But they are making a good job of it, they are listening to the messages we are giving them.”
Yet, as Friday night proved, the learning curve remains steep. Wilder’s focus now shifts to the next challenge, a home fixture where he expects a raucous crowd of 27,000 to 28,000 fans to back his team. The manager knows that nights like these—painful as they are—can be the making of a side. The question is whether United can take these hard lessons and turn them into the consistency needed to steer clear of the drop.
With the Championship as unpredictable as ever, Sheffield United’s journey is far from over. The drama continues next Saturday, when the Blades will look to bounce back in front of their own supporters and, perhaps, finally put the ghosts of Deepdale behind them.
