No ifs, buts and inquests, it's time for Blades to regroup

Sheffield United should forget about the Premier League. They should forget about automatic promotion. They should forget about the play-offs, past and present.

They should forget about Leeds, about Burnley and frankly, about anyone else.

Any Blades success this season now depends on getting their own house in order, from the manager to the players and the fans.

Everyone is asking questions right now, understandably so after three straight defeats in the battle for the top two, with fingers being pointed in every direction.

But the time for ifs, buts, maybes, inquests and recriminations is not now.

Now is the time to regroup, now is the time to put the good, the bad and the ugly to one side (and there were ugly scenes at full-time in Saturday's defeat by bottom club Plymouth Argyle).

Already minds across the fanbase are wandering to the Blades' awful play-off record, having failed eight times to get promoted via the end-of-season lottery. Four times United have made the final, four times they've lost, four times they've failed to score. It makes grim reading.

All runs usually come to an end though, and for all the twists, turns, ups and downs under Chris Wilder, he's never managed the Blades in a play-off campaign.

It took Rory McIlroy 11 attempts to complete golf's career grand slam, and the Northern Irishman now has his richly-deserved green jacket.

Leading from the front has never felt comfortable for the Blades but now they have a backs-against-the-wall narrative under which success has been built by Wilder and others.

Sheffield United have four games left of the regular Championship season, starting with relegation-threatened Cardiff City at Bramall Lane on Good Friday.

The Blades can still achieve everything they wanted to achieve this season and make an immediate return to the top flight, but everyone at the club needs to be on the same page.

Wilder's men need to be ready to strike if Leeds or Burnley falter, and they need to be in a much more positive place on and off the pitch if it is to be the play-offs.

It's been a bad week for the Blades but the players and manager have shown time and time again this season that they have the minerals to find a way to win. They need those minerals now more than ever.