Blades players unhappy with Lines following his tunnel vision at Lane

Lines was celebrating after the Owls grabbed a late draw courtesy of a controversial equaliser by striker Gary Madine.

Lines allegedly made comments in the tunnel afterwards which angered Montgomery and several other Blades players.

Montgomery hit back at the Owls midfielder saying he had not even been ‘involved’ in the game and was used to playing lower league football.

“There is a bitter taste over what happened,” said Montgomery. “The midfielder Lines was coming down the tunnel saying they should have won the game.

“I won’t use the words he used but I found it pretty poor coming from a player that was not really involved in the game.

“Maybe he’s never played above League One and it was a massive game for him. He’s probably never played in front of that many fans before but to come out with comments like that was a bit disrespectful.”

Lines, 25, spent seven years playing for home-town club Bristol Rovers before joining the Owls in a £50,000 deal in August.

The Blades have dropped to seventh after winning only one of their last six league games. Victory tonight, however, would enable them to leapfrog sixth-placed Preston.

Montgomery said: “We were bitterly disappointed to draw on Sunday after leading for so long but we can still take the point as a good point and hopefully move on to get a win at Preston.”

The Owls have released striker Nathan Modest, 20, who made only four first-team appearances and finished last season on loan at Darlington.

Last six games: Preston LWWLDL, Sheff Utd LWLLWD.

Last time: Preston 3 Sheff Utd 1, April 16, 2011, Championship.

Referee: CH Webster (Tyne and Wear).