Outcome is important to us too, says Blades boss Adkins

This will be music to the ears of South Yorkshire rivals Barnsley, who are battling with Scunthorpe United – the visitors to Bramall Lane on Sunday – and Gillingham for the final play-off spot in League One.

A win for the Reds at leaders Wigan Athletic would secure sixth spot, unless the Iron chalked up a high-scoring win against the Blades.

If both Barnsley and Scunthorpe lose, then eighth-placed Gillingham could gatecrash the play-offs.

Blades fans would have been hoping to be in the promotion mix too, on the final day of the season, but defeat at Coventry City last weekend ended their faint play-off hopes.

But they can have a major say in who makes the top six on Sunday, although Adkins says United need a win for themselves – and not to do neighbours Barnsley a favour.

“We are looking forward to the game, it’s a game we all know the importance for Scunthorpe, Barnsley and Gillingham,” said Adkins.

“But more importantly, from our point of view, we want to finish the season with a victory, at home, because we believe we are building and moving forward.

“We can talk about it until we are blue in the face, but we haven’t achieved what we set out to do this season in respect of the league position.

“But there are many things we have been doing, and we are very pleased with how things are progressing from that point of view. We need to turn things around.”

The Blades sit 10th in League One, but despite being tagged as one of the favourites for promotion to the Championship, they have struggled for consistency this season.

Adkins faces a major rebuilding job over the summer to assemble a team that can end their exile in the third tier of English football.

He said: “Of the group of players that we have, 14 of them are under the age of 21, so we are very young. We have tried to be dynamic in moving the group around.

“We knew they (Scunthorpe) were expecting to be challenging come the end of the season.

“We are taking this game seriously, we know the importance of it, for ourselves, and all the other teams.

“We want to put a performance on for our supporters because they deserve that.”