Red card appeal is ruled out by Blades

Blackwell was unhappy with Miller's performance during the Blades' midweek defeat at Nottingham Forest and angry over the dismissal of striker Darius Henderson for violent conduct.

The Blades last night ruled out an appeal against the red card – awarded for an alleged elbow on Paul Anderson – but Ellis stood by Blackwell saying that Miller had been guilty of 'persecuting' Henderson, who is now banned for three games.

"We feel Henderson was hard done to, and I am not talking about the sending off," said Ellis. "We felt the referee persecuted Henderson for whatever reason.

"After the game, the referee did say to the manager that he was 'getting fed up' of Henderson – which shows his mindset before an incident which he actually never saw.

"You want referees to be independent and neutral," he added. "But when he says he is 'fed up' of a player that suggests he is not neutral and he is not being fair."

Blackwell, who was unavailable for yesterday's pre-match press conference, had claimed in post-match interviews at the City Ground that Miller did 'not understand' the game and made a lot of decisions against his side.

Ellis re-affirmed that argument yesterday, saying: "Darius had a good battle with (Forest defender) Wes Morgan but the referee never gave one free-kick against Morgan in the first half. Not one.

"Darius has got a reputation, there's no doubt about that, and when that happens you normally do get the rough end of the stick."

The loss of Henderson, who has now been sent off seven times in his professional career, is yet another setback for the Blades who are already struggling to cope with a crippling injury list.

According to Ellis, defenders Chris Morgan and Marcel Seip may even have to be rushed back into action for tomorrow's game against bottom-of-the-table Peterborough United.

"Ideally, both need another week but, with the situation and those two as they are, we may have to discuss it," he said. "I don't think they would say 'no' but both will be apprehensive – as would we – because we don't want to put them out for another four to five weeks."

Club captain Morgan has not played since damaging ribs nearly three weeks ago against Watford while defender Seip tore a hamstring against Middlesbrough five weeks ago.

The Blades are likely to be without defender Kyle Bartley this weekend as the teenager, on loan from Arsenal, suffered a knee injury on Tuesday night. Full-back Derek Geary also damaged ankle ligaments in the City Ground clash while Toni Kallio, Nick Montgomery, Lee Williamson, Nyron Nosworthy, and Jamie Ward picked up minor knocks.

After reeling off a list of names, that also included James Harper, Ryan France, and Gary Naysmith, Ellis said: "This is not a complaint but it shows just what the manager has to put up with and overcome as he is expected to win games."

The Blades visit Peterborough tomorrow knowing that a fifth defeat in seven games would be a serious blow to hopes of a promotion push.

Although seventh in the Championship table, the Blades are two points adrift of sixth-placed Leicester City who have two games in hand. Blackwell's men can also be leap-frogged by local rivals Doncaster Rovers if they win their two games in hand.

While Peterborough are seven points adrift of safety at the bottom of the table, they have won two games out of four since the arrival of manager Jim Gannon.

Warning against the danger of complacency at London Road, Ellis said: "The difficulty with a game against a team at the bottom of the league is that everybody expects you to win – but these are often the hardest games.

"They are fighting for their new manager and probably feel they shouldn't be where they are. It is easy to go in over-confident so you have to point out where a win would take us and where a loss would leave us."