In his own words: Steve Parkin post-Sheffield United

Second half goals from David McGoldrick and Billy Sharp saw Wanderers fall to defeat at Bramall Lane on Saturday afternoon.

And speaking following the final whistle, assistant manager Steve Parkin covered the following topics...

On the game as a whole...

I thought we did very well at times. I've been to watch many games at Bramall Lane and I've seen many teams get overrun in the first half, and that definitely wasn't the case today.

We dominated the ball at times, which teams very rarely do against Sheffield United because they are very much possession based.

There were some very good performances from our lads though and we were very much in the game, so much so that you could sense the frustration around the stadium at half time.

We're bitterly disappointed though to concede two bad goals.

On Wanderers' missed opportunities...

We've had a couple of decent chances to score ourselves and on another day, had they gone in, it could have been a completely different story.

The goals we conceded though are disappointing because we were right in the game and there was nothing between the two teams.

On Callum Connolly's debut...

Callum did very well - we asked him to do a specific role for the team against a very fluent Sheffield United midfield and he did excellently.

He's a player who can only get better for us.

On the squad's mentality and morale at present...

We are a bit down after the defeat, of course. It is difficult when you're on a run like this, but the players have got to continue to show the determination we have so that we can come out of it.

There is of course disappointment about the result, but in the cold light of day, we've had some very good performances.

And finally, on having a full week to prepare for next weekend's visit of Preston...

Having a local derby might be exactly what we need - we need the stadium bouncing as we'll be giving everything we have to get a result against a very good Preston side.

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