Rochdale 2 Sheffield Utd 0: Blades are handed a harsh lesson by ex-Owl Grant Holt

They simply do not have a player capable of taking a game by the scruff of the neck and turning it around when things are going wrong.

Game management is what it is all about, claimed Rochdale manager Keith Hill, and, in Grant Holt, he has a player who has it in spades.

That management may have turned to gamesmanship in the final throes when an alleged gesture by the 34-year-old former Owls striker infuriated already brassed off Blades fans, but Holt was the player who turned this game and left the visitors four points shy of the play-off spots.

Hill admitted he had got his planning wrong in the build-up and after Dale had withstood a first-half battering thanks to the heroics of goalkeeper Josh Lillis, he turned the match on its head by introducing club legend Holt and Peter Vincenti at the break.

Holt not only bullied the three-man Blades back line but fed Ian Henderson to tee up Vincenti for the 67th-minute curling shot that beat George Long inside his left-hand post.

Then, to cap it all, ex-Norwich Premier League forward Holt hooked home on the half-volley the 81st minute goal from a corner that signalled no way back for the Blades – especially as he then ensured Dale ran down the clock by keeping possession.

It was Holt’s first goal for the club since November, 2005 when he scored twice in a 4-3 win against Shrewsbury and justified Hill’s decision to give him a contract until the end of the season following his release by Wigan.

Rochdale had lost their previous seven games against the Blades and after the heroics of Holt, scorer of 43 goals in 83 games for them after a switch from Sheffield Wednesday in 2004, Hill made some pertinent points which should not have gone unheeded by the visitors.

“A fairytale, yes, but it does not always work out that way,” said Hill on the decision to give Holt his chance.

“It’s like going out with an ex-girlfriend, it’s never quite the same, but Holt has come in and done exceptionally well in training and he’s done well when he has come on.

“At half-time I said, ‘listen, with respect to your energy I’m expecting you to go out there and give me everything you’ve got and I might sub you in the last 10 minutes’. He said, ‘you’re not doing that’ so I said, ‘give me everything you’ve got’ and he said ‘no worries’ and his game management was – well, wow, wow.

“That’s the difference. If you want a promotion-winning team you’ve got to have game management, game knowledge, players who can go out there and just do it without being coached and Grant Holt has got all that.

“He’s played in the Premier League and he’s come on for us and managed the second half and managed their central defenders. Wow, superb.”

Blades chief Nigel Adkins admits his side must go on a winning run soon, starting tomorrow with the visit of leaders Burton Albion, a side managed by his predecessor, Nigel Clough, who led the Bramall Lane outfit to the play-offs last season.

Adkins knows he must at least match that achievement and he sent out a side with attacking intent, playing three at the back plus two wing-backs and Che Adams and Billy Sharp up front.

His one change saw the suspended Dean Hammond replaced in midfield by Florent Cuvelier, making his first start for over a year after a catalogue of injuries.

The 23-year-old Belgian was adamant that his team-mates have the same character and determination that he has shown to get back into the game to propel them into the play-offs.

Withdrawn after 75 minutes but saying he is fit for tomorrow’s encounter, Cuvelier said: “Everyone is gutted that we did not put the ball in the back of the net at least once because we played some really good stuff.”

He was the first to be denied by the heroics of Lillis, tipping over an early 12-yard volley before repeating the trick to deny Adams, whom he thwarted twice more as well as smothering the ball at the feet of Sharp after the break.

Cuvelier continued: “It’s been over a year since I started – I had a ruptured cruciate ligament on loan at Port Vale and I came back and had problems with my hamstrings – and I was delighted to be back and playing competitive football, but my return counts for nothing because we have lost the game.

“It’s been the hardest time of my life, but now I feel fit and want to play my heart out for Sheffield United and achieve the main target of promotion.

“I am now 100 per cent ready and it’s all about focusing on promotion. (Saturday) was the proof I am ready. I feel psychologically stronger now. It’s a lot in the head, dealing with injuries, losing games, winning games and keeping your feet on the ground and focusing on the main target, promotion.

“Every single player and member of staff has a target of getting Sheffield United to the Championship and everyone is going to work their socks off until the last day for it to happen.”

Rochdale: Lillis, Rafferty, Eastham, Canavan, McNulty; Allen, Lund (Bennett 90), Rose; Bunney (Vincenti 46), Mendez-Laing (Holt 46), Henderson. Unused substitutes: Alessandra, Noble-Lazarus, Collis, Camps.

Sheffield United: Long, Basham, Edgar, McEveley; Brayford, Cuvelier (Coutts 75), Reed, Flynn (Scougall 75), Woolford (Done 32); Sharp, Adams. Unused substitutes: Howard, Collins, , Campbell-Ryce, Calvert-Lewin.

Referee: M Heywood (Cheshire).