Just two points separate Sheffield United and Wrexham as the pair lock horns in the Championship at Bramall Lane on Friday night (20:00 GMT).

The match-up will pit Chris Wilder against his former Southampton youth team-mate Phil Parkinson once again.

Despite the new nature of the somewhat unconventional rivalry between the clubs, the various sub-plots once again make for an intriguing encounter.

“It’s a tasty game,” said Wilder. “It’s not historical over 15, 20 to 25 years, it’s a recent one, but it’s gathered pace along the way.”

Having not met in 19 years, the Blades narrowly overcame then-National League side Wrexham in a fourth round FA Cup replay in 2023, just months before the Red Dragons gained the first of three successive promotions under Parkinson.

The Welsh side held their Championship counterparts to a 3-3 draw before losing 3-1 in the replay.

But it served as an early signal that Wrexham were determined to compete with the big guns in the near future.

“We were talking at a function last night, someone asked me what game typified the Wrexham team and one of them was the home game (against Sheffield United) in the FA Cup,” Parkinson said this week.

“We lost two players through injury in the first 10 minutes, we were 1-0 down but the determination of the group in that game was incredible.

“There was a big gulf between the two clubs at the time, they were top end Championship, one of the best teams.

“I think if you can encapsulate everything you’d want in a performance, obviously we didn’t get the win, but in terms of the spirit, belief and the hunger, that was all on display.”

Wrexham won both meetings between the sides last season, coming from 3-1 down to win 5-3 at the Racecourse Ground in December before again producing a comeback to beat the Blades 2-1 in South Yorkshire in March.

“I watched both games back this week,” said Parkinson.

“The 5-3 was probably one of the best games in the Championship in the whole season for any team. It was a great game of football.”

Given the significant changes made to both squads during the summer, Wilder admitted he would not be taking too much from his side’s pair of losses to the north Wales side last term.

“We’re not taking too much regarding what happened last year,” he said.

“We know they’ve got some really good players. They’ve got a good management structure that I know well, and they’ve invested in the summer to make their group stronger.”

When it comes to the playing personnel, two men in particular are likely to attract significant attention.

Former Blade Kieffer Moore – who scored six times in 30 appearances for Sheffield United in 2024-25 before securing a switch to north Wales – netted twice against his former employers last season.

Having scored 13 times in his debut campaign for Wrexham, the Wales international has already notched five goals this season at an impressive rate of a goal every 160 minutes.

“He’s had a good start to the season, Kieffer,” Parkinson said.

“On his day, of which he’s had quite a few this season, he’s a real handful and a difficult player to play against.”

Ruben Selles was at the helm at Sheffield United when Moore departed the club, with Wilder previously admitting he would not have sold the Welshman had he been in charge.

Before his latest reunion with Moore, Wilder commented: “He’s posed a threat for every defence he’s played against right through his career, and at international level.

“He’s had an outstanding season last year and he’ll be delighted with the career he’s had.”

Callum O’Hare joined the Hollywood-owned club in the summer transfer window and is poised to line-up against the Blades for the first time since leaving Bramall Lane.

Wilder accused Wrexham of a “blanket bombing” approach to the final stages of the summer transfer window at the time of their pursuit of the attacking midfielder – who scored for the Blades at Wrexham last season.

Having praised O’Hare’s character in addition to stating he “enjoyed working with Callum” when discussing the 28-year-old in his latest pre-match press conference, Wilder was eager to show a line has been drawn.

“You don’t want to lose your best players, but I’m not going over old ground on that,” he said.

“There’s a reason why that happened. The timing of it wasn’t great, but we had to deal with it and get on with it.”

Eyes will at times be firmly trained on proceedings on the touchline too.

Wilder – senior to Parkinson by just 69 days – issued a dig at the Wrexham boss earlier this season when previewing his side’s contest with Cardiff City.

Discussing Parkinson’s assessment of Wrexham’s own meeting with Cardiff in early August, Wilder said: “I didn’t agree with what the Wrexham manager said, I don’t usually anyway, in terms of that it was a one-sided game.

“I thought he should give the opposition a little bit more credit and respect.”

Parkinson himself is fully braced for another almighty tussle with his former team-mate.

“I’ve had plenty of battles with Chris, I know Chris really well, we were apprentices together at Southampton many years ago when we were both 16,” he said.

“We’ve both managed a lot of games and that’s not easy.

“Chrissie is a good lad but it’s always very competitive and we’ve had some real ding-dong battles with them down the years.”

Storylines could emerge from pretty much anywhere at Bramall Lane on Friday night.

But for Wilder and Parkinson, the match strictly represents business as both sides bid to ignite their campaigns with a much-needed victory in a fixture that garners increasing attention.