Chris Wilder claims Sheffield United can shock the Premier League - even if they “take some doings along the way”.
Wilder, his staff and players were honoured at a civic reception in Sheffield on Tuesday in recognition of returning to the top flight for the first time in 12 years.
The Blades boss is already planning for next season and knows they could suffer some heavy defeats because of the quality of the Premier League’s big guns.
But he takes heart from Huddersfield and Bournemouth, who defied expectations when they first won promotion, and says his side can also surprise people.
“Everybody talks about the quality of the top six and we’re definitely going to take some doings along the way,” said Wilder.
Dave Bassett congratulates himself for recommending Chris Wilder to Sheff Utd
“We know that and it’s about how we recover from that.
“I think we can surprise people, that’s always the key. You look at Huddersfield in their first year in the Premier League and Bournemouth.
“We’d like to surprise a few people and I wouldn’t be surprised if we do.
“There are some teams who have come up and done fantastically well.
"Do I think we can do a Wolves? Probably not, they’re at a different level to us and their rebuilding began in the Championship. They are at a totally-different level to where we are.
"But we’re similar-sized clubs, they’ve survived in the Premier League and we’d love to do that too.
“Whatever happens, we’re going to enjoy it.
"It’s a fantastic reward for the football club and the supporters after a difficult 12 years away from the Premier League, seven years outside the Championship even.”
Chris Wilder outlines his transfer policy for Sheffield United's Premier League return
Wilder claims he will be continually thinking of how to improve his squad during his well-deserved summer holidays.
“I don’t think I’ve switched off since I came into football management at Alfreton in 2001,” he said. “Your head is still ticking, thinking of how to improve.
“I’ll get away, but there will be a lot of thought going into it. We don’t have an open chequebook culture here, I never have had that in my career. We’ve had to work really hard to try and improve the club.
“Hopefully it will be bright future for the football club. We’ve worked very hard to get into this position. We can build and if we don’t, we’ll still be in a strong position.”
