Sheffield United midfielder John Lundstram is relishing his chance to prove people wrong with Chris Wilder’s Premier League underdogs.
Lundstram feels the Blades have not been given enough credit for their style of football under Wilder since winning promotion.
The 25-year-old Liverpudlian also admitted his own disappointment after failing to make the first-team breakthrough at Everton four years ago is a constant source of motivation.
“Individually and collectively you’ve got to use it as fire to go on and try and prove people wrong,” said Lundstram, who is expected to retain his place in Wilder’s side against Southampton at Bramall Lane on Saturday.
“Personally, that’s what I’ve tried to do all through my career. It’s a big one for me. To try and prove people wrong.
“That’s always been a big motivation for me from all the setbacks that I’ve had.”
Lundstram, a regular for England at various youth levels, left Goodison Park at the end of the 2014/15 season in search of regular football and joined Oxford, then in League Two.
He made just 10 Sky Bet Championship appearances for the Blades last season but has started all four of their games in the top flight and struck the winner in their opening home game against Crystal Palace.
The Blades fought back from 2-0 down at Chelsea to draw 2-2 at Stamford Bridge before the international break and Lundstram thinks they might have surprised their critics.
“Sometimes when they were talking about us I don’t think they had watched us much really,” he said.
“Some people were saying we didn’t play much good football, but if you watch us regularly you’d see that we do.”
Wilder’s side sit 10th in the table on five points and Lundstram said their opening-day draw at Bournemouth had filled them with self-belief.
“The first game against Bournemouth gave us a massive confidence boost,” he added. “They way we played in the second half. We were probably the better team.
“That really gave us a lot of confidence. Our first game in the Premier League and we held our own against a good Bournemouth team, who are probably established now in the Premier League.
“That was the big one and obviously Chelsea, another one which has given us massive belief. The team spirit that we’ve got.
“We’re going into Saturday now believing we can get a result. You’ve got to. You’ve got to believe going into the game.”
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