Exclusive: David Prutton reacts to concerning Sheffield United trend | OneFootball

David Prutton has had his say on Sheffield United's automatic promotion hopes.

Sheffield United have had their automatic promotion push hindered by back-to-back defeats in the Championship.

The Blades were beaten 1-0 away at Oxford United last weekend, before they were on the wrong end of the same result against Millwall at Bramall Lane in midweek.

Chris Wilder's side would find themselves level on points with Leeds United and Burnley in the automatic promotion places had they not been deducted two points at the beginning of the season, but they are instead two points adrift of the top two with five games remaining.

Sheffield United will be looking at their next two fixtures against struggling sides in Plymouth Argyle and Cardiff City as must-win games, and if they do take six points, then it will set up a potentially decisive clash against Burnley at Turf Moor on Easter Monday.

There is no doubt that the last two results have been setbacks for the Blades in their push for automatic promotion back to the Premier League, but they will no doubt still believe that they can achieve a top-two finish.

David Prutton refuses to write off Sheffield United

Sky Sports presenter, David Prutton, spoke exclusively to Football League World about Sheffield United's promotion hopes following their consecutive defeats, stating that the Blades have the quality to bounce back and achieve what they set out to do at the beginning of the campaign.

The ex-Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United midfielder is refusing to write off his former rivals.

"Do I fear for Sheffield United? Not overly, I think," Prutton said.

"Given Chris Wilder being in charge, given the type of players that they have got, given the backbone that they have got, and the quality that they have shown.

"The fact, as well, that they have been battling all season long with that two-point deduction at the start shows that they have got real fire and a real fortitude about them.

"They will see these defeats as setbacks, but nothing terminal when it comes to their automatic promotion push, and that top three fight is going to be a fascinating one.

"I just can't box Leeds off at the top between now and the end of the season.

"You can't discount Sheffield United at all."

Sheffield United must put setbacks behind them

Sheffield United have shown they are more than capable of putting together a strong run of form in the Championship this term, so they will have faith that they can string a few good results together during the remainder of the season.

Before their defeats against Oxford United and Millwall, the Blades had picked up 25 points from the previous 30 available to them.

The biggest concern for Chris Wilder will be that his side have been beaten twice by Leeds and once by Burnley this season, so they will also need to forget about those results against their promotion rivals when they visit Turf Moor in a couple of weeks.

As Prutton alluded to, there is no reason why a team with the quality of Sheffield United cannot overturn a two-point gap with five games still to play, especially considering one of them is against a side they are chasing, so it is bound to be an exciting end to the season in South Yorkshire.