Chris Wilder insists Sheffield United will not be abandoning their principles as they look to consolidate their position in the Premier League.
The Blades are back in the top flight for the first time since 2007 after finishing as runners-up in the Championship last season.
Since returning to Bramall Lane as manager in 2016 Wilder, who made over 100 appearances for the club as a player, has delivered two promotions with an attacking and exciting style of football.
The 51-year-old is clear that avoiding relegation is the aim – but he wants to do it “the Sheffield United way.”
“Everybody will want to attach us to a Burnley or a Bournemouth or a Brighton, who have established themselves in the Premier League, but we just want to go about it in our own way and stay in the division – that has to be the ambition. That’s not being negative, it’s just being realistic,” said Wilder.
“We’ll go into every game and try to do our best and get something from it. It is an enormous challenge staying in the division and if we do it, it will obviously be better than getting out of the previous division. But we are excited and we’re not scared about it.
“I hate the old DNA shout but from our point of view we’re not going to rip up everything we’ve done and change everything, I don’t think that’s fair. We can’t do that and we will go about it our way – the Sheffield United way – and believe that it’s going to be good enough to succeed.
“That isn’t to say we’re going to be arrogant enough to come into the division and not change. We’ve got to be cuter and play smarter and tailor the game and the approach because we are looking at different kinds of opponent now.
“You’ve go to keep evolving and you’ve got to keep taking those small steps. We have to improve and we have to improve in terms of recruitment, we have to improve off the pitch, preparation and so on but I think it would be foolish to rip up what has been successful for us over the past three years.”
