By Janine Self for the Daily Mail
Published: 21:39 BST, 10 April 2019 | Updated: 21:44 BST, 10 April 2019
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Chris Wilder found himself in the no man's land of managerial awards at the weekend when he was named manager of the EFL before the end of the campaign.
It will count for nothing if the Sheffield United boss cannot upgrade it to a promotion trophy and that means going through nights like this.
A night of ultimate frustration and a failure to leapfrog Leeds into second place in the Championship.
Enda Stevens (right) powered Sheffield United into the lead with a fierce left-footed strike
Mark Duffy (left) congratulated Stevens on what was his first club goal since March 2018
Captain Billy Sharp hugged Stevens as the Blades celebrated their opener on Wednesday night
Last weekend Birmingham boss Garry Monk dubbed Sheffield United's style 'unique' and it was meant as a compliment even if it also posed a head-scratching challenge.
It was said in the wake of a win over Leeds, who are locked in a deadly duel with their Yorkshire rivals.
Monk, once of Leeds, may be more concerned with regaining the nine points deducted for financial fair play irregularities but he is destined to have a say at the top of the table too.
His aim, to give a 'twist', meant trying to find a way past a team with eight clean sheets in nine matches and one defeat in 12. A daunting task but then so was ending a run of five straight defeats by beating Leeds.
Predictably the start was a slow one with both sides testing each other out. The first meaningful save of the night was down to Dean Henderson, who prevented what looked like being a spectacular own goal. Connor Mahoney, a livewire on the right, teed up Gary