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Chris Wilder hit out at his players after Sheffield United’s 3-2 defeat to Luton, saying two own goals were not ‘unlucky’, but a poor ‘approach and attitude’.

For a second game in a row, the Blades let a winning position slip late on. Against Luton, it was two own goals from Jack Robinson and Anis Slimane that allowed their relegation rivals to take three points away from Bramall Lane.

Sheffield United had been the better side for much of the game too, coming from 1-0 behind themselves to lead 2-1.

But while many would consider the own goals harsh on the players who scored them – Slimane’s in particular bouncing off his leg and past goalkeeper Wes Foderingham – Wilder was less empathetic.

The Blades boss said: “I’ve been here before where journalists say they [the players] can’t feel too sorry for themselves.

“I couldn’t give a monkeys how they feel, they’re professional footballers. It’s up to them to get themselves back.

“There was a situation when Dean Henderson lets a goal through his legs against Manchester United, and people talked about not being too hard on the kid. Everyone’s got to be accountable for what’s going on, and the attitude is key.

“This is Premier League football, the best in the world. These boys have to have a strong mental attitude. Physically, they have to show unbelievable qualities, technically and tactically they’ve got to be astute and take things on board, and they haven’t done that.

“They’re really poor goals. I’ve been their biggest supporter, but I’m not here to rub their heads. I’ve been unbelievably complimentary of them, because they deserve that. I’m saying it as it is, as I’ve always done.

“It’s not unlucky, it’s poor in terms of approach and attitude. It’s poor we didn’t get out to stop the cross. Whether it’s a combination of goalkeeper or centre-halves that we’ve not squeezed out of the box, like on Friday night [against Aston Villa]. You don’t have that luxury, you’re going to get punished – that happened then and tonight.

“It’s not unlucky that the equaliser goes in off Jack Robinson’s head, it could’ve gone in off one of their boys. The third one, he just has a ball thrown into the middle of the box. Poor bit of defending and it comes off Anis.

“He’ll look at it and say it’s unlucky, but it’s not. The organisation’s poor, and these things will happen in those instances.”

As Wilder made comparisons to, Sheffield United also let a late goal in against Aston Villa on Friday Night Football. Nicolo Zaniolo was allowed to drift in front of Foderingham to nod home Douglas Luiz’s cross, with the game ending in a 1-1 draw.

He compared that goal with Luton’s second – Robinson’s own goal – on Boxing Day, and added despite limited time together, the players should eradicate such mistakes without needing training time.

Wilder added: “We switched off for the third goal, that’s just an organisational thing. Nobody ever should be able to throw a ball into the heart of your box with 10 minutes to go. The second goal, and the goal at Villa, that’s an attitude.

“I don’t know whether because of the goals we’ve conceded, the situation we’re in, that that’s a mindset they’re going to go and protect. We have to be brave, get up the pitch and allow that area for the goalkeeper to come and collect it.

“It’s difficult because I’m not looking for a way out, there’s only so many training sessions we’ve got. Have we worked on unit work defensively? We have in a way, but that for me is a straightforward situation.

“If we had worked on it from our point of view, and had time, we’d tidy it up. But it’s that basic that I don’t think we need to be out on the training ground to fix that.

“Don’t take this as a dig against our opponents, but there’s been a lot talked about character and we got ourselves back in the game, never gave up and had a never-say-die attitude – it’s nothing to do with that.

“It’s to do with our defending and our attitude to defending. It cost us on Friday, it cost us today.

“The approach to this sort of period is to be up the pitch, out of the box, be compact in our shape. We’ve made a change in terms of distances, where we are and how we want to defend. Of course, it’s not going gung-ho and getting picked off, but getting up the pitch.

“We didn’t do it in the 98th minute against Aston Villa, and it cost us. It’s an attitude to defending, and I’d be saying the same things if I was the manager at any club in the pyramid.

“The really poor ones are Friday night which turns a brilliant performance into a win, and tonight in terms of a second-half recovery into a big three points… They [Luton] have not had to do anything to get back into the game. We’ve handed it to them.

“Second half, we got ourselves back into the game and really should be talking about a home win and going and getting a third, not them getting two to take the points.”

Sheffield United must quickly regroup – their next game is at Premier League and newly-crowned Club World Cup champions Manchester City on Saturday.

Wilder concluded: “We have to get back on the bike pretty quickly, and the players have to show the attitude and mentality that the manager’s had a bit of a nip, we’ve got to show we can individually and collectively cut out these mistakes.

“I was looking to my right a lot in the second half, maybe not in the first because they shaded it, but with doing so many things well in the second half, we can’t do that and then toss them the three points.

“I don’t think that was earned by them, it was given away by us.”

Merse: Luton win puts Brentford in danger | Morrison: Everyone from Fulham is in mix

Speaking on Soccer Saturday, Paul Merson said Luton’s victory had brought Brentford – currently 14th ahead of hosting Wolves on Wednesday evening – into the relegation mix with their cushion to the bottom three cut to four points.

He said: “That result has brought Brentford into it, for me. They’ve got (Yoane) Wissa going to AFCON, and if Toney goes in January they could really get dragged into it.

“Luton have got Chelsea at home next game. You’d fancy that, especially on a pitch like that. I’ve said from day one I had a feeling about them getting out, you always fancy them at home. They’re putting up a fight.”

Fellow pundit Clinton Morrison said every team up to 13th-placed Fulham, who lost 2-0 at Bournemouth on Tuesday and sit six points above the drop, needed to look over their shoulders in the second half of the season.

“Anyone from Fulham down is involved,” he said. “You look at the table, Luton are picking up brilliant results.

“Palace go to Stamford Bridge and it’s going to be a brilliant game, but from Fulham down everyone has to watch out. Luton and Rob Edwards are doing a brilliant job.”