Blades look to move on quickly after derby day setback

Chris O’Grady’s 72nd-minute header was all that divided the neighbouring Sheffield clubs at Hillsborough in their scrap to get out of League One.

A win for United yesterday would have seen them go eight points clear of Wednesday – with two games in hand – but O’Grady’s seventh goal of the season means Gary Megson’s team are still within touching distance.

Goalkeeper Simonsen, who had little to do at Hillsborough in a fierce battle devoid of many clear goalscoring chances, believes the Blades must shake off any derby hangover and is relieved they have a midweek fixture to get back on the field.

United have successive home games against Scunthorpe United, on Wednesday night, and Rochdale on Saturday and two Bramall Lane wins will make Hillsborough seem a distant memory, he said.

“Today is very disappointing, this is the game that the fans and everybody else looks at as the game they want to win,” said the 32-year-old.

“But come May if we have kept up our promotion charge, forgot about this game, and got on with our bread-and-butter stuff I think the fans would much rather take promotion and losing to their rivals, than beating them and not going up. That’s what we will focus on now.

“It was dsiappointing, obviously. We are disappointed for the fans. It was a big day for everybody.

“But we have just said in the dressing room that this game’s out of the way now and it’s time to move on and get on with the rest of the season.

“We have got some big games coming up, we are still in the box seat, we have got games in hand and a couple of points clear so it’s important now that we get this game out of the way and take that advantage on.

“I am pleased that we have got another game coming in midweek to get the hangover of this game out of the way. Everybody is bitterly disappointed, we thought we had the better chances in the game. But it wasn’t to be, it’s out of the way now, and we just just have to move on.

“We have got two big home games now coming up and we need to keep that advantage between us and the chasing pack.”

Simonsen believes United had the better chances overall, but allowed the Owls to drag them into a physical battle after the break.

“I think in the first half we managed to get the ball down, we didn’t get drawn into a battle and a big up-and-under match. We managed to play and create a few good chances, we certainly had the better of the first half.

“We were unlucky not to go ahead when Williamson hit the bar with his free-kick.

“In the second half we get emboiled in it a little bit, we couldn’t get the ball down and play like we did in the first half. It was disappointing but we could have snatched an equaliser at the end as well.”