Blackwell still working hard on Blades recruitment

But with Blades manager Kevin Blackwell still searching for the three final pieces of his Championship jigsaw, the club may wish they could return to this tiny sun-kissed Mediterranean island for a little more bonding ahead of the curtain-raiser against Cardiff City in three weeks.

Blackwell has already lost Simon Walton for the season on the eve of the trip to Malta, allowed Jordan Stewart to move to Greece, and yesterday sanctioned the departure of Kyel Reid to Charlton Athletic following the midfielder's one-year stay at Bramall Lane.

United receive no fee for the player but have had a healthy sell-on clause written into the contract.

Building a defence to protect new goalkeeper Steve Simonsen is the main priority for Blackwell who lured Johnny Ertl from Crystal Palace at the beginning of the close season and also re-signed Rob Kozluk earlier this week. But on his return to the Steel City this evening, purchasing one, and potentially two defenders, will be his top priority as he tries to swiftly integrate new players into the squad to avoid a repeat of the dependence on loan players the club had last season, which ultimately proved their undoing in the promotion race.

Blackwell is understood to want to operate on 20 first-team professionals this coming season, with the emphasis on quality, not quantity.

He has 17 currently at his disposal with Stephen Quinn close to a return to training and five young players in Malta on the pre-season tour hoping they can follow in the footsteps of Kyle Naughton and Kyle Walker by breaking into the first-team squad this season.

Sunderland's Nyron Nosworthy is Blackwell's primary defensive target, while midfield is also an area he will look to strengthen.

The decision to honour Waton's contract by paying his wages for the next 12 months will hinder his attempts to freshen up his squad, but will not dictate them.

One position not presenting the manager with a selection headache is up front with summer recruit Daniel Bogdanovic joining Richard Cresswell, Ched Evans, Jamie Ward and Darius Henderson to provide the firepower.

Cresswell and Bogdanovic were among the goals as United concluded their pre-season trip to Malta by winning the JPL Cisk Lager Cup in front of 350 visiting fans at the Hibernians ground.

The tournament was a round-robin event involving the Blades, Hibernians and Vittoriosa Stars, with games lasting 45 minutes.

Cresswell headed the only goal from Mark Yeates's corner as United's beat Vittoriosa.

Then Malta international Bogdanovic slotted home an early penalty against Hibernians in the final, after the hosts had beaten Vittoriosa on spot-kicks in the first game.

Left-back Phil Roe won the penalty with a burst into the penalty area before Jordan Chappell sealed the win with a long-range effort.

Kingsley James was another youngster to impress on a muggy evening.

But it was the fact that his players left the Mediterranean without any serious injuries that will have pleased Blackwell the most.