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Sheffield United 2 Preston NE 1: Evans is aiming to strike new deal with Blades
Ched Evans turns away to celebrate after scoring
THINGS are looking up for Sheffield United striker Ched Evans.
With Welsh national manager Chris Coleman sitting in the stands, Evans scored twice as the Blades took another step towards securing promotion.
Evans is back in the Welsh squad after hitting 21 goals for the Blades this season and admits that he is enjoying his football like never before.
The shadow of an impending rape trial is still hanging over his head but the 23-year-old shows no signs of strain on the field.
All questions relating to that topic are ‘off limits’ for journalists but rarely does a game pass by without rival supporters bringing it up.
By the time the trial starts in April, the Blades should have sealed their return to the Championship.
And Evans, whose contract expires in the summer, would jump at the opportunity to stay on board.
“It’s out of my hands what happens at the end of the season but I would like to stay at Sheffield United,” he said.
“I don’t see any point in leaving if you are really enjoying your football. I like the manager and the way we are playing football so, yes, of course I would like to stay.
“I am in the best form of my career and that’s down to the type of football we play,” he added. “When you are top of the league and everybody in the team is buzzing, nothing beats it.”
If Evans were to stay, the Blades would probably need to win promotion. Without the added income of Championship football, it is unlikely that the club would be in a position to maintain his £20,000-a-week wages.
Evans will make his return to the international stage when Wales play Costa Rica on February 29 in a memorial game for Gary Speed.
“I have missed international football but I have had a call-up this week,” he revealed. “I have not been involved in the last couple of games so I was really pleased to get the news.”
After breaking the 20-goal barrier against Preston North End, Evans is setting his sights on reaching 30.
His current return is 16 in the last 17 games so, with another 16 games still to play, it is hard not to think it possible.
Ironically, Evans might have bagged a hat-trick on Saturday but fluffed a first-half penalty after being fouled by Aaron Brown.
“It was a sloppy penalty and I won’t be taking another one like that!” he said. “But the fact I made up for it makes it all the better.”
Goalkeeper Thorsten Stuckmann has now saved five penalties for Preston this season but none will come easier than this one.
As Evans showed later, when lashing home the winner, he possesses one of the the hardest shots in the business – which made his decision to try and pass the ball into the bottom corner from the spot even harder to understand.
Stuckmann could probably have walked along the line and stopped the ball with his foot so weak was the shot!
With third-placed Sheffield Wednesday suffering a lunchtime defeat at neighbours Chesterfield, the Blades had been acutely aware of just how important a victory was going to be.
But frustration grew during the first half as Preston proved stubborn opponents and little went right.
Apart from the missed penalty, midfielder Kevin McDonald limped off with a pulled hamstring and has been ruled out of Sunday’s Steel City derby.
Preston also took the lead when striker Graham Cummins met Nicky Hunt’s cross and looped a header beyond Steve Simonsen.
Fortunately for the Blades, the lead lasted just four minutes and there was a mighty sense of relief around Bramall Lane when Evans restored parity.
The Blades enjoyed the lion’s share of possession for long spells but struggled to break down a stubborn Preston rearguard.
Under new manager Graham Westley, the Lillywhites have become a far harder side to beat in recent weeks but are a side that certainly does not set out to entertain.
Defending in numbers, they put a stop to most things before the ball could reach their goalkeeper.
Patience was the key word for the Blades, who looked for holes around the penalty area with limited success.
Patience eventually paid off, however, when Evans scored seven minutes from time.
Substitute James Beattie’s header had been knocked over by Brown but Evans scored from the subsequent corner, hitting an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net from 15 yards.
Blades manager Danny Wilson said: “It was difficult but winning a game after going a goal down and missing a penalty is an excellent effort from the lads.
“Preston make it very, very difficult for you to play – there are a lot of spoiling tactics and it is not easy to get momentum – so it was a fantastic three points.”
Wilson is still hoping to pip leaders Charlton Athletic – who are six points clear after drawing against Tranmere Rovers – for the title.
“It’s no use just looking behind us, we have got to look above us,” he said. “We have clawed a couple of points back today and we have got to keep chipping away.”
Sheffield United: Simonsen; Lowton, Maguire, Collins, Jean-Francois; Flynn (Williamson 69), McDonald (Montgomery 25), Doyle, Quinn; Evans, Cresswell (Beattie 71). Unused substitutes: Hoskins, Long.
Preston North End: Stuckmann; Hunt, Robertson, Brown, Parry; Marrow; Holroyd, Barton (Murphy 87), Procter, Nicholson (McLaughlin 61); Cummins (Douglas 72). Unused substitutes: McLean, Arestidou.
Referee: M Brown (East Yorkshire).
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