Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder has said the prospect of relegating their cross-city rivals is “not in his thought process at all”.
The Blades fan, who is unbeaten in his seven games against the Owls, said he disagreed with the notion that his side, who are 15th in the table, should cruise to a win.
“We’ll have done more preparation on this game than we have on any game this season and all the games other than the play-off final last season,” he told BBC Radio Sheffield.
“I’ve got complete respect for Henrik and a group of players… there’s talk of it being a mismatch or a gimme, whether it’s bookies’ odds or the narrative in the city… football just doesn’t work like that.
“The players have to play with a discipline and a control to win a game of football, to win a local derby.”
Wilder added: “We put a slide up about Macclesfield v Crystal Palace and Bodo/Glimt v Manchester City. There are all sorts of examples recently, let alone [in] the 100 years plus of football, the game isn’t decided on team sheets.
“We understand it’s basically their season on the line, we’re not daft. But we’ve got our fight, and ours has to be bigger than theirs.”
