"It was a tough day," he said. "It is disappointing to lose the game of course. They defended the box very well, we made a couple of errors and got punished. We were not our usual selves in terms of being snappy and creating chances.

"At the end it came down to two mistakes. There were a couple of moments in the game we huffed and puffed. The players gave everything. Once Sheffield United were very low and defending that lead they were difficult to break down.

"This is the best league in the world and the toughest league in the world. Today we have had a bad day but we have had some good days. The players will pick themselves up ready to attack the week."