Topics: Sheffield United, Wrexham, FA Cup
Sheffield United striker Billy Sharp accused fifth tier Wrexham of being "disrespectful" both before and during their FA Cup fourth round replay at Bramall Lane.
After a 95th-minute equaliser from United defender John Egan salvaged a replay with Wrexham at the Racecourse Ground last month, late goals from Sharp and Sander Berge ended the National League side's glorious FA Cup run.
Phil Parkinson's side had the chance to go 2-1 ahead in the game on Wednesday night but in-form striker Paul Mullin, who scored Wrexham's first, missed a 72nd minute penalty before injury time goals secured a 3-1 win for the Blades.
It was an entertaining clash from start to finish but Sheffield United goalscorer Billy Sharp was in no mood to celebrate their win after the full-time whistle.
In fact, he pulled no punches towards their lower league opponents, saying he was "glad" to have knocked Wrexham out.
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Speaking to ITV after the 3-1 win, Sharp began: “It was a great cup tie over the two games. They played excellently. I think they’ve been disrespectful, though."
The 37-year-old added: "A few things before the game, thinking they were already through; I’m glad we’ve beaten them.
“They’re doing well in their league, we’re doing well in ours. I wasn’t happy with a few of their players tonight but that’s it now, we’ve got one over on them, Good luck to them for promotion but hopefully we’ll put that one to bed because I wasn’t happy with a few of their players.
“I was a bit frustrated at the end, I probably should’ve put the game to bed before I did but it’s one of those things, I want to win and I want to get through to the next round.
“I wasn’t happy with the way they’ve been as a club before the game, eyeing up Spurs,” Sharp added. “They’ve not even beaten us.
“We’re an honest set of lads and we want to go as far as we can in this competition. If we get beaten in the next round, so be it. We’ll give it a right go.
“I think they thought we were just going to roll over when we get back in it. I think the referee was helping them all night as well, I don’t think he gave me one foul all night.
“It’s one of those things, I probably lost my head a little bit but I’ve got a smile on my face because we’ve got through to the next round of the Cup and the boys deserve it.”
Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson was far from pleased with Sharp's actions. He also claimed the experienced striker made a scene in the Bramall Lane tunnel at full-time.
"I am a bit disappointed with Billy to be honest with you, some of the things he was shouting down the tunnel at the end," Parkinson said.
“Well done Bill, you’re a fantastic player but I thought he was disrespectful after the game. I think the way the players celebrated and the crowd and staff was just a mark of how tough we made for them and they were relieved to get through.
“The message to Billy is: You’re better than that, you really are. My players are humble people and a great credit to the football club.”
Wrexham defender Ben Tozer soon accused Sharp of "fabricating stuff in his head" after labelling Wrexham "disrespectful" during the FA Cup clash.
Tozer also claimed that Sheffield United players told his teammates to 'shove the documentary' – a reference to the Welcome to Wrexham series on Disney+.
“I feel like a bit of a dampener has been put on the game with the way they’ve acted in the tunnel. They showed a real lack of humility,” Tozer told reports after the game.
“But that’s the way they want to be and I feel like if we won that game we would’ve shown a lot more humility and respect.
“They should show more respect to us. They were telling us to ‘shove it on the documentary’.
“I feel like he’s [Sharp] fabricated stuff in his head to make that acceptable for himself if I’m honest.
“I said to him face-to-face, ‘show a bit more humility’. We’ve congratulated them on the win, we haven’t sulked, we’ve walked down the tunnel as normal and it’s just a shame that that’s the way it’s ended.”
When asked if Wrexham did anything to disrespect their opponents, Tozer said: “Not at all, not from our part. Apparently they were tweeting Tottenham tickets before this game was played.
“And you had people like Oli McBurnie saying stuff in the press; I don’t think any of our lads said anything disrespectful. We certainly approached the game properly.
“If that’s the way they want to be that’s the way they want to be.”
