Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder insists the Premier League must be completed

Chris Wilder

Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder does not believe the Premier League season should be declared null and void.

England's top-flight is currently on hold until April 30 at the earliest due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Sheffield United were enjoying a fine season before the suspension, and currently occupy seventh spot in the standings.

The Blades are just two points adrift of fifth place, which will bring with it Champions League qualification if the Court of Arbitration for Sport upholds Manchester City's two-season ban from continental competition.

And Wilder says it would not be right if the 2019/20 campaign was simply cancelled.

"The players have a responsibility to be ready if and when the season restarts," he told the Daily Mail. "I have 100% faith that they will look after themselves.

"They’ve worked unbelievably hard to get into this situation this season, they have worked unbelievably hard to get into the Premier League and they are a really tight group as well.

"At first, I didn’t want to play the remaining games behind closed doors but my point of view now is that, if that is what it has to be in order to finish the season, then that is what it has to be. 

"There’s no compromise in this. We have to finish the season, however long it takes. 

"The idea of freezing positions as they are now is not for me, even though you look at the table and think it wouldn’t be a bad result for this club from a selfish point of view. 

"Everyone will look at it from a selfish point of view and they have to come out of that. The Premier League season is a race. It is 38 games. No matter how many points somebody is ahead or how many points somebody is behind, it’s sport and anything can happen.

"If it means not going to Newcastle in front of 50,000 people, not playing Arsenal in the FA Cup quarter-final in front of 30,000, not going to Manchester United in front of 75,000, it will be a disappointment.

"But there is a bigger picture here in terms of public health. We put that in perspective and so it won’t wreck our season. When football resumes, I’m positive we will be able to finish the season on a high."

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Greg Lea

Greg Lea is a freelance football journalist who's filled in wherever FourFourTwo needs him since 2014. He became a Crystal Palace fan after watching a 1-0 loss to Port Vale in 1998, and once got on the scoresheet in a primary school game against Wilfried Zaha's Whitehorse Manor (an own goal in an 8-0 defeat).