Chris Wilder delighted as ‘clinical’ Sheffield United defy banana-skin predictions with Gillingham FA Cup win

Sheffield United book place in FA Cup fourth round after beating Gillingham 4-0

Chris Wilder was delighted after his Sheffield United side defied expectations of an FA Cup banana-skin to book their place in the fourth round this afternoon. The Blades beat Gillingham 4-0 at Priestfield, to pick up their first away win since the final game of last season. A brace in either half from Will Osula and James McAtee ensured a comfortable scoreline at the end, although the League Two side had their moments and came closest when skipper Max Ehmer’s header beat Wes Foderingham but hit the post and bounced to safety.

They also had a first-half goal disallowed for offside and Foderingham made a smart save to keep out Oliver Hawkins’ header. “We haven’t had many wins this season so to get back to that feeling for the players was good,” said Wilder. “We need to be consistent with our performances, no matter which competition. It’s different from the Premier League, we had more of the ball.

“Everyone in the media world has turned up today looking at this fixture and thought: ‘Home win, Premier League team getting knocked out’. We had to make sure we did a job on Gillingham, and we did that. We have some good young players.

Andre Brooks was outstanding too. It was the first experience of playing at this level for some – FA Cup third round, Saturday afternoon. “It’s fabulous for them that they got through it.

It’s not under-21s football, it’s full-on.

We had to endure some tricky moments.

Will [Osula] to get his two goals was great.”