Eight games without a win led to inevitable speculation about his position in charge of Sheffield United with former England striker Alan Shearer even being touted as a possible successor.

The pressure was eased by Saturday's 1-0 home win over Championship bottom club Peterborough United after which Blackwell admitted to having endured sleepless nights over the Blades' slide down the table.

An injury run more commmonly associated with neighbours Wednesday has been the major factor behind the Blades slipping out of a play-off place into a 'South Yorkshire mid-table zone'.

Only three points separate the Blades, Barnsley, Doncaster and the Owls but Blackwell knows being top dogs in the region alone will not be satisfactory.

After registering his 40th win in 90 games in charge at Bramall Lane, Blackwell said of the winless streak: "It frustrates me more than anything else. I have been managing for seven years now and I have never had a run like that but if I have a run like it only every seven years then I will accept it.

"What does it do to you? You don't sleep at night, you worry about players coming back from injury. Are you going to be lucky enough in the loan market? Will someone lend you a player?

"Just the fact that you come out training with just seven or eight players available every week has been an absolute nightmare."

Blackwell first stepped into coaching at Huddersfield under Neil Warnock in 1993 and became assistant to Peter Reid at Leeds before replacing him in 2004. He lost his job at Leeds after taking seven points from the first eight Championship games of the 2006-07 season. A 10-month spell in charge of Luton followed his exit and he took over at Bramall Lane in February last year.

The 50-year-old continued: "It's been the most frustrating time in my management career without question – knowing what the problem is but being unable to fix it. We have been trying to put teams together and grind out results. When we get our top players back we know we have a decent side.

"It's been a learning curve and it's something I've not enjoyed and so I'm delighted to have got two results back to back (including a 2-2 draw at Barnsley) and we now want to get back to being the Sheffield United that gets results."

Blackwell is now looking forward to a new problem to contend with – who to leave out.

"Clearly, the problem we have had here is injuries – it's been crippling us all the time. We have had five or six players who have hardly played this season so it was bound to take a strain but we have shown an ability to scrap – that's an important ingredient of Sheffield United. Now, with Henri Camara and Ched Evans having looked a good partnership up front on Saturday, if I can get the two big lads back (strikers Darius Henderson and Richard Cresswell), all of a sudden I will have a selection problem and it's something I have never had this season.

"I will have to make real decisions this week because Monty (Nick Montgomery) and Gary Naysmith will also be back and Lee Williamson and Camara have now got a game under their belts along with Jamie Ward. It's something I'm looking forward to."

Blackwell, seeking goalkeeping cover ahead of Thursday's transfer deadline for emergency loan signings due to Paddy Kenny's drugs ban and Ian Bennett's thumb injury, takes the Blades to Bristol City on Saturday, aiming to inflict a first league home defeat of the season on Gary Johnson's side.

Swansea City, meanwhile, are expecting to confirm the loan signing of Blades winger David Cotterill.