'Owners support me' - Selles bullish despite Blades' start

Sheffield United head coach Ruben Selles says he has the support of the club's board despite overseeing their worst start to a season for 30 years.

The Blades have lost all six games under the former Hull City boss and sit bottom of the Championship.

Their miserable start to the season reached a new low on Friday as they were thrashed 5-0 by Ipswich Town at Portman Road, with Jaden Philogene scoring a hat-trick as the Tractor Boys recorded their first win of the season.

Selles, 42, was bullish after the match and insisted there were positives to take from the performance.

"If you don't win football matches your position is going to be discussed, not only for me but for every coach in the world. We have to keep working hard until the end," he told Sky Sports.

"The owners have been supporting me until today. I haven't spoken to them after the game. I'm not worried about that, I'm just worried about how we can do things better. I'm the first one to give pressure to myself.

"I believe in myself. I will always be in front of anything that has my name.

"We are not going to solve anything tonight but we have to analyse. The good thing about football is you have another game in seven days and it's another opportunity."

The stats do not make good reading for Selles.

The Blades have conceded 12 goals in their five Championship games, the most in the division.

It took until Boxing Day for his predecessor Chris Wilder's side to concede that number last season.

Tyreese Campbell's strike in a 4-1 home defeat by Bristol City on the opening day of the season is the only time Selles' side have found the net in the league this season.

But how does their start compare to others in the past?

Since the Championship was rebranded for 2004-05, only four teams have previously lost five matches in a row to start a season: city rivals Sheffield Wednesday (2007-08), Peterborough United (2012-13), Blackpool (2014-15) and Wycombe Wanderers (2020-21).

Only one team ended up surviving - Wednesday, who finished 16th, three points above the relegation zone.

It is the Blades' worst start to a season since 1995-96. That season manager Dave Bassett was replaced by Howard Kendall in December and the club recovered to finish ninth in the second tier.