Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder admits they were outclassed by Aston Villa on Saturday night.
The Blades were thrashed 5-0 by Villa at Bramall Lane.
Wilder said: “We were punished ruthlessly. It’s a long way back from 4-0 down. Basic individual errors and organisational errors. I’ll take the rap for that. It was an athletic young side who got put to bed.
“Watkins’ movement caused us a problem. Goals from Bailey and Tielemans were fabulous finishes. The goal just after half-time is difficult to take. I’ve been in that position as a player and a manager and there’s no hiding place.
“You have to take your medicine. We have to accept that and apologise to our supporters because they’ve been superb. We’ve let them down this evening.
“We had a couple of really good chances to take the lead and then we’ve gone chasing. We’ve got excited. We’ve left big holes and they’ve picked us off.
“If you allow good players big holes and players go diving in and losing their shape, they’ll find those pockets and produce that final finish. It can become messy which it did.
“There’s always a lot of noise about when teams get done three, four, five. It’s such a difficult environment to be in. Our fans stuck with us to the end.
“In that position everything becomes laboured and a reaction instead of an anticipation. Every ball seems to fall to them. You let a team the quality of Villa go 4-0 up and they’ll be buzzing and 10 foot tall and everyone looks like a super players which they are.
“We gave them a massive helping hand.
“I don’t think there’s anything to take out of today’s performance. Nothing at all. We’ve been well and truly pumped. If people say there was only one goal in the second half it doesn’t hit home with anybody who’s been in the game.
“The stats are there. You have to take it on the chin. We’ve been outclassed and outfought in every department. That’s what happens in the Premier League. Maybe in other divisions it’s not as clinical and you have a chance to get back into this game.
“In this league they put you to bed and take you to the cleaners. Whether they took their foot off the gas or our boys stuck to it is irrelevant.
“It’s what you get paid for. I’ve had it before. It’s not all been sunshine in my career. You lean on your experience and staff. We have to come in Monday morning and go again. We have to not blame people. We have to accept it, roll our sleeves up and go again. We have a huge game at Luton. We have to show more than we did this afternoon.”
