Hull City manager Grant McCann says that Sheffield United should be walking promotion from the Championship this season.

Following their relegation from the Premier League at the end of last season, Sheffield United have endured something of a slow start to the Championship campaign.

The Blades have picked up just one win and six points from their seven league games so far this season, leaving them 19th in the early standings.

McCann's Hull side are set to host Sheffield United at The MKM Stadium on Saturday afternoon, and it now seems as though the 41-year-old is expecting a tougher task than the table might suggest in that game.

Speaking about the Blades ahead of that game, the Tigers boss was quoted by the Yorkshire Evening Post as saying: “They are a team who are probably expected to win the division. That is probably from in their dressing room and fanbase. I am sure every media outlet tipped them to be right up at the top end of the league if not win it.

“They have started a wee bit slowly, but with the new manager, maybe it’s taken its time on the squad. But they have serious potential throughout the group. "They are a good team and they have showed that over the past couple of games in scoring eight goals, albeit conceding four. So something is starting to click. We know we have to be really organised, but also carry that threat.
“It is another tough task against a team who have probably been put together for 150 to 200 million, so this is what we are up against and what we worked so far for last season. "We worked ever so hard to get to this level and play against teams like this, one who have just come down from the Premier League. We want to give a good account of ourselves.”

For their part, Hull go into the game 21st in the second-tier standings, with five points from their seven league games, and have failed to score since the opening day of the season.

The Verdict

It does feel hard to argue with McCann's assessment of Sheffield United here.

Things haven't started as well as the Blades would have hoped for this season, but the summer transfer window saw them keep the majority of their squad that played in the Premier League this season.

They also brought in several more players with top-flight pedigree during the market, so you would expect them to be competing for promotion this season.

Recent performances from Sheffield United have indeed suggested they are starting to click, and there is plenty of time in the campaign for Slavisa Jokanovic's side to turn things around, so it would not be a surprise if McCann's prediction about the Blades was to come true.