Sheffield United 1 Blackburn Rovers 1: Blades spoil the Blackburn party with Anel Ahmedhodzic equaliser

Yuki Ohashi fired the visitors ahead, sparking jubilant scenes in the away end as it pushed Blackburn into the sixth in the live table.

However, a leveller from Anel Ahmedhodzic clinched a 1-1 draw for the Blades and pushed Blackburn out of the play-offs in the process.

The visitors looked jittery early on, with the enormity of the occasion seemingly blunting their sharpness.

Sheffield United had nothing but pride on the line, yet were the first to threaten in the initially cagey affair.

Tom Cannon drew an early stop from Balazs Toth between the Blackburn sticks, seeing a shot beaten away at the end of a slick move.

Cannon then turned provider, knocking down into the path of Gustavo Hamer only to see the midfielder slice high and wide.

It was hardly a glaring opportunity for Hamer but one did soon arrive, when Andre Brooks floated a teasing cross in from deep on the right.

Hamer slipped in behind, eluding his marker, but lifted over the woodwork from just yards out.

The energy of the Blackburn fans ebbed and flowed, as news of goals elsewhere filtered through to adjust their confidence levels.

Increasing decibel levels in the away end failed to buoy Blackburn, who found Sheffield United’s backline difficult to circumvent.

Their first sight of goal came when Callum Brittain skewed a cross and incidentally drew a save from stand-in stopper Adam Davies.

However, normal service soon resumed and Sheffield United went back to being the side doing the probing.

Sheffield United were the first to threaten after the break, when Sydie Peck saw his rasping volley held by Toth.

Blackburn had enjoyed very little joy in the opposition half, yet it was Valerien Ismael's men who broke the deadlock. Brittain slid across the box for Ohashi, who made no mistake steering past Davies.

The travelling fans erupted, but their joy was short-lived. Rob Holding headed across goal and towards his centre-back partner Ahmedhodzic, who poked home before Toth could gather.

A draw was not enough for Blackburn to make a late surge into the top six, but the late rally many expected of them failed to materialise.

Sheffield United held the the fort down well and even had chances to win it themselves. An exchange between Brooks and O’Hare created a glorious opening for Cannon, but the frontman ballooned over the crossbar to the dismay of the home faithful.

Toth then thwarted O’Hare in the dying embers, denying the Blades the chance to head into the play-offs with a victory under their belts.