Sheffield United 1 Swindon 1: Blades in danger of losing their attacking thrust as push falters

The Blades midfield player had won the first-half penalty that saw Billy Sharp put the home side in front against Swindon Town on Saturday.

Coutts also squandered a golden opportunity to double United’s lead – one of numerous second-half openings for the hosts – after a defensive mix-up.

He opted to shoot rather than pick out a lurking Sharp, who was in a better position, and the effort was blocked by goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux.

To rub salt into United’s wounds, up popped Brandon Ormonde-Ottewill with an equaliser to earn Swindon a point with 11 minutes remaining.

“I should have done better when I nicked it off their lad and went through,” said Coutts.

“I should have squared it to Billy, I needed to be sharper there.

“I definitely think, if we’d have got the second goal, then we’d have seen it through.

“We were disappointed not to get the three points. It was a tough game and, to be fair, they are probably a better side than their league position suggests.

“But, overall, I thought we looked pretty comfortable and they didn’t create many opportunities against us even though they had a lot of the ball.

“We’d worked on that during the week. They have a lot of the possession in most of their games, I presume, so we worked on trying to keep them in front of us.

“I thought, for the most part, we did that well, but obviously they got in behind once.”

After conceding three goals on their previous Bramall Lane outing – a 3-2 loss to Peterborough United – the Blades looked a lot more solid here.

A midfield quartet of Coutts, Dean Hammond, Chris Basham and Martyn Woolford nullified much of Swindon’s free-flowing football, meaning chances were limited.

That was until Ormonde-Ottewell cut inside from the left flank before drilling the ball beyond George Long.

The Blades’ goalkeeper had earlier seen referee Trevor Kettle originally award a penalty against him, for bringing down Nicky Ajose, before spotting a linesman’s offside flag.

Swindon finished the game looking the likelier to score, Jonathan Obika forcing Long to scramble the ball away. At the other end, David Edgar shot straight at Vigouroux.

Former Derby County midfielder Coutts accepted United would have liked to have had more possession, but was happy with his side’s defensive resolve.

“We always think we’ll score so the main thing is keeping other teams out,” he said.

“We want to dominate the ball ourselves, but it’s always going to be difficult against them because that’s what they base their whole game around. Against others, though, we’ll definitely see much more of the ball.

“We knew we needed to tighten up because we always score, but we’re conceding too many.

“You’ve got to do different things against different opposition. I think that’s the same at every level, isn’t it?”

United got off to a bright start, going ahead inside eight minutes.

Coutts picked the ball up deep andplayed a one-two with Sharp before being fouled by Jordan Turnbull inside the area.

Sharp’s penalty was emphatic – making this the seventh consecutive league game in which he has scored, and his 14th goal of the season – and the Blades striker was unlucky not to add a second when he headed just wide from John Brayford’s free-kick.

“It was a stonewall penalty,” reflected Coutts. “I thought it should have been a red card because it was an assault. He caught me well above the knee. I thought it was a bad tackle.”

Victory over Swindon would have seen United – yet to win in their opening five matches of 2016 – in the play-off spots after sixth-placed Peterborough lost at new leaders Gillingham.

Instead, Millwall occupy sixth place, although the Blades can leapfrog the London club tomorrow night with victory when they travel to Blackpool.

Manager Nigel Adkins sympathised with Blades fans who booed at the final whistle. “It’s our frustration that we want to go win games of football,” he said.

Having switched to a diamond formation in midfield at half-time, Adkins looked to match opponents who had scored eight goals in their previous two outings.

But the lack of that second goal always left United vulnerable.

“It’s another point on the board,” said Adkins.

“But that second goal was elusive.

“Coutts broke through, we had good pressing, Billy Sharp saw the goalkeeper make some really good saves.

“We looked to try and get a second goal and we so nearly did that.

“Had we scored that second goal, it would have put a different complexion on the game.

“Goals change games, and the mindset, the moods.”