Chris Wilder "not embarrassed" by Sheffield United approach at Aston Villa after late heartbreak

Chris Wilder defended Sheffield United's approach at Aston Villa this afternoon after the Premier League strugglers were cruelly denied what would have been a stunning win at Villa Park. The home side had won their last 15 games at home but had to be rescued by a 97th-minute equaliser.

Earlier Cameron Archer had enjoyed a dream return to Villa Park when he poked home against his boyhood club to put his current one on the brink of a remarkable three points. But Villa kept going and equalised deep into nine minutes of added time, when Nicolò Zaniolo headed home.

The game also saw Villa have a goal disallowed - one of six VAR checks throughout the evening - and Wilder, when asked to sum up his emotions, said: "Dear me, where do we start? It always seems like when we come to Villa Park it seems to be quite an interesting night, to put it mildly, and it was tonight. Of course we're up against a team on a fabulous run, that have swatted aside better teams than us.

"I'm not going to be embarrassed in terms of the plan we had because we have to have a structure. Adding to the injuries and unavailability of some of the players, and the amount of minutes some of them can do, and giving some boys early starts in my second tenure, learning about those players, and the lack of time we have on the training ground, I think it's a good effort.

"It's not anti-football; it's up to the opposition to break us down. Because they're the ones at home and the ones in-form. You do get close, as we did, and you get to 98, 99 minutes and you're ultimately a little bit disappointed. But when my head goes on the pillow tonight, we can be pleased with our efforts and it's something to work with."

Despite Villa's domination of the ball United kept them at bay before opening up a little later on with the introduction of James McAtee and Gus Hamer, who set up Archer's goal with a lovely bit of skill on the byline, off the bench. But ultimately it wasn't enough to take all three points back up the M1.

"We had a structure and were better on the ball when we got the Hamers and McAtees on to the pitch," Wilder added. "Delighted to get in front, but disappointed with the goal. It's a fabulous ball in and a great header, but from our point of view it's a poor goal.

"We have it away cheaply on the halfway line, we don't stop the cross and the boy drifts in between our defenders and the goalkeeper. So that's a difficult one to take. But hopefully we can keep moving forward."