Sunderland's late disappointment against QPR was a demonstration of just how 'ruthless' teams can be in the Championship - and Alex Neil expects it to be elevated to another level when the Black Cats face Sheffield United tonight. The Black Cats saw victory slip through their fingers at the Stadium of Light on Saturday, as a free-kick from Ilias Chair with a couple of minutes remaining followed by an incredible injury-time equaliser from goalkeeper Seny Dieng saw the Londoners salvage a point from a game that had looked beyond them.
Neil says it was an object lesson in how making the big moments count is more important than which side performs best over the 90 minutes as a whole. And ahead of this evening's trip to Bramall Lane, he warns that Sunderland will face their toughest test of the season so far when they take on a Blades side that finished in the Championship play-offs last season and prior to that had spent two seasons in the Premier League, with one of those campaigns seeing them finish in the top half.
"In the Championship the tactics are like a chess match," said Neil, whose side is unbeaten in three league games since returning to the second tier. "You make one error and you get punished.
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"I think the ruthless nature of the game on Saturday [against QPR] summed the Championship up for me. Teams do not necessarily need to play well against you to get results.
"You can play really well for 85 minutes but it guarantees you nothing, because there are key moments and unless you get the key moments right, you won't win."
Asked whether he expects that ruthless nature to rise to the next level against Sheffield United, he nodded: "Yes. Especially away from home and at Bramall Lane in particular, where Sheffield United are really, really, strong.
"This will be our biggest test to date, without a doubt. What they have more than anything, Sheffield United, is experience.
"Last year they were in the Championship, but the previous two years they were in the Premier League. They have come down from the Premier League and with their parachute payments, they will expect to get out of this league, and they made the semi-finals of the play-offs last year.
"You look at Sander Berge, John Fleck, Oli McBurnie, Oliver Norwood - that was their midfield in the Premier League when they finished eighth, so they are not bad, are they? It's going to be a tough game."
Former Blades boss Chris Wilder - now in charge of Middlesbrough - took over the South Yorkshire club in League One in 2016, led them to promotion to the Championship, and then two seasons later to the Premier League. They finished eighth in their first season back in the top flight but were relegated the following year, with Wilder leaving before the end of the campaign.
Former Fulham boss Slavisa Jokanovic was put in charge last summer and tried to change the way they had played under Wilder but, after a bad start, he was sacked in November. Ex-Sunderland defender Paul Heckingbottom took over, reverted to Wilder's previously successful formula, and immediately got the club back on course.
Neil said: "Slavisa Jokanovic is a great coach who has been promoted from the Championship twice, he tried to change the dynamic of how they play which had been ingrained in them for five or six seasons, and it didn't work. Then Paul Heckingbottom, who was their U23 coach, came in and literally just went back to the way things were and the players have just kicked on from there.
"Their record from that point onwards has been remarkable. They've got guys on the bench that they bought for £20m - McBurnie, Rhian Brewster - and they don't even get a game."
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