Sheffield United

Image source, Opta

Norwich City return to Championship action on Wednesday (19:45 GMT) after exiting the FA Cup with a 3-0 loss at Leeds United on Sunday.

The Canaries are yet to draw a league game in 2026, while Sheffield United head to Norfolk having gone unbeaten in their past three away games.

• Norwich are winless in their past 10 league games against Sheffield United (D4 L6) since a 1-0 win at Bramall Lane in September 2017.

• Sheffield United are unbeaten in their past five away league games against Norwich (W3 D2), having lost five in a row at Carrow Road before this.

• Norwich have won eight of their 11 league games so far in 2026 (L3), with no Championship side winning more this year.

• Sheffield United have won their past two away league games without conceding. They last won three in a row to nil in October/November 2022.

• Norwich's Anis Ben Slimane has been involved in six goals in nine English league games in 2026 (5 goals, 1 assist), more than he had in 2023, 2024 and 2025 combined (2 goals, 2 assists in 53 games).

Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder criticised his side's performance in their 1-1 draw at home to struggling West Brom.

The Blades were left frustrated after wasting several chances to double their advantage after George Campbell's second-half own goal before the Albion defender redeemed himself and rescued a point with a late leveller.

Wilder told BBC Radio Sheffield: "The performance wasn't of the standard I expect of the group, especially at this stage of the season.

"It was lose, we didn't really affect the game. The front four didn't affect the game enough and when you are in games like this - well, any home game - your front four have got to come alive.

"I didn't think we had enough out of them.

"Sydie [Peck] and Jairo [Riedewald] were OK. We had control of the game first half without really hurting them. When we got in those advanced positions we didn't really find any quality. I thought it was an average first-half performance.

"We got ourselves in front [then] we miss two or three really good chances. That second goal, we needed it because they were always going to stick it on us late on and we didn't handle it.

"The goal sort of summed it up really. Really bad decisions."

United will look to continue their late play-off charge when they return to action on Wednesday against Norwich City.

West Bromwich Albion's current struggles are a warning of just how dangerous the Championship can be, according to Sheffield United head coach Chris Wilder.

The Baggies visit Bramall Lane on Saturday [15:00 GMT] just one point clear of the relegation zone and without a win in their past 11 league games.

"In terms of the players they've got and the quality in the group, everybody will be asking how come they're in that position? - but that's what can happen in the Championship," Wilder told BBC Radio Sheffield.

"It happened to us with everyone asking at the start of the season how that group of players haven't won a point in the first five games? - it's a dangerous division when you don't get it right."

West Brom have sacked two head coaches this term - Ryan Mason and Eric Ramsay - and have put former midfielder James Morrison in charge until the end of the season and Wilder says no-one should be surprised when a big club struggles in the Championship.

"These things can happen if you don't get it right off the pitch as well as on the pitch," he said.

"It happened to Stoke last season, it's happened to Derby and even to teams who fall through the division.

"We've got an opportunity to get to 50 points - from our point of view getting to 50 points is normally a guarantee of another season in the Championship which was my thought when I first came back through the door and West Brom would love to be in that position."

Wilder has also revealed former England international Kalvin Phillips injured his knee in the Steel City derby win over Sheffield Wednesday last month and the midfielder, who is suspended after being sent-off in the same game, is back at his parent club Manchester City receiving treatment.

Sheffield United are currently 13th in the table, nine points short of the play-offs and 14 clear of the relegation zone.

West Bromwich Albion will be hoping to avoid the drop into the relegation zone when they make the trip to see Sheffield United on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

The Baggies are just one point above the relegation line as it stands and could drop into the bottom three should Oxford United beat Preston North End on Friday.

If the U's fail, then Albion will still need to be wary of Leicester hovering just below, meaning the only way to guarantee safety is to claim victory at Bramall Lane.

• Sheffield United are unbeaten in their last four home league matches against West Brom (W3 D1) since losing 2-1 in December 2018.

• West Brom are looking for their first league double over Sheffield United since the 1997-98 campaign.

• Since the last international break in November, no side has won more Championship matches than Sheffield United (12), while only Sheffield Wednesday (0) have fewer wins in that time than West Brom (3).

• West Brom are winless in 11 league games, their worst run since going 13 without a win between July and November 2020.

• Gustavo Hamer has assisted a goal in each of his last eight home Championship starts for Sheffield United (nine assists). Since 2013-14 when Opta began recording Championship assists, this is the longest run of any player.

Image source, Shutterstock

Earlier we asked what you make of the news that, from next season, the Championship play-offs will be expanded to include the teams finishing seventh and eighth?

It was announced on Thursday morning that EFL clubs voted in favour of expanding the play-offs from four to six teams.

Here's a selection of your comments...

Josh, Derby: I don't believe this is necessary. I do think that the play-off format should be aligned throughout the top five leagues, but expanding isn't needed. Better distribution of the monies involved and establishing a clear matchday structure to balance various men's and women's leagues would be a better use of everyone's time. This strikes me undue American influence.

Callum, Dartford: I think it's a good thing so teams can push for promotion that thought they wouldn't get near the play-offs.

Cato, Sheffield: If we adopted it to this season, it means that eighth-placed Derby (on 51 points) have about as much a chance of going up as third-placed Millwall (on 63 points). Plus, to accommodate the extra games, would they extend the season into June? I don't like the idea of it at all, and I hope it's short-lived.

Steve, London: Another example of football being ruined, week by week. Don't you dare think about implementing VAR too.

Mark, Stafford: As a Stoke fan, I think it's good news. The season has come to a grinding halt due to being decimated by injuries. Add to that, the quality of what is coming down from the Premier League, it would mean upsets can happen and still allow teams in that mid-table race to dream of greater heights!

Richard, Stansted: Absolutely ridiculous. What is the point of a league format if you are going to make it a bigger lottery to include even more teams at the end of the season? It also brings teams that are even less ready to actually be in the Premier League into scope. But mostly it's the undermining of the league format which makes no sense. I'm a Derby fan - and we look like we would have a chance of benefiting from this if it were in place this season.

Andy, Nuneaton: Anything that expands the opportunities for those outside of the parachute teams is a good thing. We need to get away from this elite view of the Premier League. If it was up to them, they'd stop automatic promotion and relegation and have a system like Rugby Union, where it's based on meeting certain criteria. The eighth-placed club in the Championship getting to the PL? Bring it on!

Ron, Hayling: Money, Money, Money. Players complain about the amount of games they play with the league games and cup competitions so the intention is to play even more at the end of the season. Owners will make some money but that's all that matters!

Barry, Dartford: Yes it's a fantastic for everyone, all the small teams as well as the big boys, to have something to play for. It will give the end of the season something to look forward to.

Benjamin, Poole: I'm a Charlton fan, so it's unlikely we'll come 8th in the Championship any time soon, however, this is ridiculous. More pandering to Americans to make it more likely they'll make money, which is the only thing they care about. Sporting integrity out of the window again. Shame as I felt the Championship was the last bastion of quality and integrity combined. Game has gone.

Broughton, Derby: Absolute ridiculous, put it back to the old days of three straight up, no play-offs. If you don't make top-three you don't deserve to go up.

Julian, London: The worst decision from a footballing point of view ever! The National League teams have been trying to change their system to be like the current EFL system so it seems a very strange decision for the EFL to take. You can finish 8th after 46 games and still get promoted - sporting integrity has been totally lost with this decision. Money over integrity every time!

Image source, PA Media

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder was delighted with his players' response as they beat QPR 2-0 at MATRADE Loftus Road.

Callum O'Hare and Tyrese Campbell scored to put the Blades 2-0 up at half-time and they have won five of their last eight Championship games.

Wilder told BBC Radio Sheffield: "We didn't get what we deserved on Wednesday night. That was, you know, a top performance bar seven or eight minutes, it really was.

"I think you know, when we when reviewed it and watched it back about two or three times, you can see why everybody was frustrated. I was frustrated and the players were because we should have got more from that game.

"We talked about it afterwards and I said we have to learn from that.

"They were a bit flat on Thursday, I got into them and they were really good on Friday, as bright as a button.

"We obviously got off to a perfect start here in terms of getting two up at half-time and it was a very well controlled, clinical away performance. Overall, the attitude of the group was great."

Image source, Coventry City FC

You might not hear the old terrace refrain of 'you're not fit to wear the shirt' as often as you used to, but it still has a better ring than 'the shirt's not fit for you to wear'.

Championship leaders Coventry City launched a new collection on Friday, proudly taking inspiration from a kit widely dubbed the 'Worst of All Time'.

A take on the club's infamous brown change strip worn away from Highfield Road from 1978 to 1981, the modern reinvention features what the club calls "a deeper chocolate plum colour with sky blue elements".

Many would suggest it sounds tastier than it looks.

But it's got us thinking... what are actually the worst EFL kits of all time? Let us know which of your club's shirts is hiding in the back of the wardrobe, or even if they were too ugly for you to even part money for them.

We'll collate a list of the biggest eyesores and will give you the chance to vote on the ghastliest of all next week.

Click here to let us know your suggestion, and you can even attach a picture if you really want to convey the horror.

Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder says his team "have to put a run together if they want to get something out of the season".

The Blades are nine points adrift of the play-off spots with 12 games remaining and face 14th-placed QPR at Loftus Road on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

"We need another big performance. We're at the business end of the season. We understand where we want to be," Wilder told BBC Radio Sheffield.

"The players understand that. We've got to put a run together. We did it last season."

United put together two lengthy unbeaten runs in the 2024-25 campaign - one which lasted nine games (W6 D3) and another 11-match streak (W9 D2).

Wilder has challenged the squad to do something similar if they are to have a late push towards the top six.

"It can happen and it can happen in this division," Wilder added.

"It's not the Premier League where all of a sudden the fixture list sticks an Arsenal in there or a Man City - or even other clubs - so you can do that.

"I think the difference maybe last season was that defensively in those key moments we saw teams off. So when we're suffering, we have to defend those moments a little bit better.

"But we've got the opportunity, we've got the ability in the group to go and win games of football and we understand that.

"If we want to get something out of season, we've got to go and attack the game [at QPR] and go and win it."

Image source, Getty Images

QPR and Sheffield United will seek to keep their fading play-off hopes alive when they meet on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

The R's are 14th, two points and two places above the Blades, after following-up their fine win at Hull last Saturday with a humbling 5-0 reverse at Southampton on Tuesday night.

United are nine points behind sixth-placed Wrexham with a dozen games remaining after Sunday's Steel City derby win was followed by a 2-1 home defeat to leaders Coventry on Wednesday night.

• QPR have won just one of their past 10 league games against Sheffield United (D3 L6), a 1-0 away win in October 2022.

• Sheffield United have won three of their past four away league games against QPR (D1), as many as they had in their previous 15 (D4 L8).

• QPR have alternated between victory (3) and defeat (3) in their past six home league games, losing 3-1 against Blackburn Rovers last time out.

• Since the start of April 2025, only West Bromwich Albion (14) have lost more away games in the Championship than Sheffield United (13).

• Sheffield United's Patrick Bamford has faced QPR more often without registering a single goal or assist than any other side in his English league career (6).

Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder was left frustrated with his side's defending as they threw away a lead to lose at home to leaders Coventry.

Harrison Burrows drove the Blades ahead but Coventry rallied to score twice in five minutes through Haji Wright and Jack Rudoni to leave United nine points short of the play-off places.

Wilder told BBC Radio Sheffield: "It was a really good performance for large parts but the naivety for the two goals was incredible. We should be up at half-time, the tone and feel of the stadium was really good and we had them on the back foot.

"We went toe-to-toe and got ahead but the manner of the goals we conceded was so naive. We were wide open for the first and then we turn our back on the second one. The game turned on its head.

"We had to be smart and manage the game and we didn't do that. I feel for the players, but it's just happened too many times this season. We have nearly been good enough."