Cresswell ensures the Blades nose clear of rivals

Nor is he going to let Sheffield Wednesday’s unbeaten run under Dave Jones bother him as he aims to underline the point that the Blades are not a one-man team.

The Owls paid York almost £1m for Cresswell’s services when they were a Premier League outfit but now both Sheffield clubs are fighting it out in the third tier to join Charlton in an automatic promotion slot.

Owls top scorer Gary Madine made that ‘one-man team’ claim as he praised the goal-scoring exploits of Blades striker Ched Evans but both United frontmen were on the mark on Saturday.

Wales striker Evans made it 11 goals in his last nine games and 32 for the season, and Cresswell moved to within one of double figures.

Evans volleyed home in the 34th minute after Cresswell’s aerial challenge for a deep cross from Matt Lowton and the strikers switched roles after the break.

This time, Cresswell somehow bundled the ball home from Evans’s second attempt at a driven cross after being sent sprawling in the six-yard area and the strike put the Blades 2-0 up in the 50th minute.

They were coasting but a blunder by goalkeeper Steve Simonsen presented Bournemouth a lifeline and the rejuvenated Cherries, who had offered little threat until then, made it a tense finale for their hosts.

“It was a fantastic result although a nervy finish and we move on to the next one,” said Cresswell, who damaged his nose in the win at Hartlepool.

“For 65 minutes there was only one team in it but the referee’s decision to allow their goal put a bit of pressure on us but we held out.”

The 34-year-old forward added: “We will just concentrate on what we are doing, not what anyone else is doing. We saw what the score was at Huddersfield (the Owls’ 2-0 win) but it did not affect us. I’m not feeling the pressure of having to play after them. I just concentrate on the job at hand. As Jack Nicklaus said at the Masters the other night, you can’t affect what other people do, you have just to concentrate on your own job.”

Looking to the trip to relegation-threatened Rochdale tomorrow, Cresswell said: “It will be a tough place to go but we have to be confident that we can go there and get three points. Hartlepool made it really hard for us on a difficult pitch but you win promotion off those sort of results so, hopefully, we can go to Rochdale and do the same.”

Cresswell is relishing being locked in a battle with the Owls, adding: “This is what you play for. You play to win promotion to be up there and be part of a successful team. We’ll be judged on what happens at the end of the season.”

Manager Danny Wilson was delighted for him, revealing: “It would have been quite easy for him to cry off with his broken nose but he was back training on Monday with it.

“We had to get him out of the ground for a few days because he just wants to train all the time. He’s a great pro but we have to manage him at times and taper down his training at times. When he goes out on a Saturday he gives everything and that is all you can ask for.”

Wilson is too experienced to get into a war of words with the opposition but added: “Exactly, we are not a one-man team. Cresswell and Evans are a good foil for each other. Cressy is quite under-estimated for what he does for the team – not by us but a lot of people just highlight Ched.

“That’s quite right in some ways with 32 goals but a lot of them have been down to a lot of hard work from Cressy and although he has not got the goals he wants to get, he has contributed a great deal to the spaces and areas in which Ched has got his goals and I think they have done very well together.”

Wilson refused to criticise his goalkeeper over Bournemouth’s 67th-minute goal when he failed to spot the lurking Zavon Hines and saw his attempt to roll the ball out to Matt Lowton hit the striker and give him a simple tap-in.

“I don’t criticise Simonsen. It was just a fluke. Unfortunately it happened to us but did not cost us so we can smile about it and make sure it does not happen again,” said Wilson.

“It gave them a big lift and we saw how good some of their players are. It wasn’t a foul. He didn’t see the boy behind him and he’s gone to throw it out and he’s just stepped across him. He’s actually hit him up the backside with the ball. Up to the goal there was no pressure at all. Even after it we still had some good situations.”

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Sheffield United: Simonsen, Lowton, Maguire, Collins, Hill; Williamson, McDonald, Doyle, Quinn (Flynn 83); Cresswell (O’Halloran 58), Evans. Unused substitutes: Howard, Porter, Williams.

Bournemouth: Flahavan, Francis, Addison, Cook, Malone; Arter (Fogden 46), Cooper, MacDonald, Pugh (McDermott 56); Hines (Taylor 77), Thomas. Unused substitutes: Gregory, Zubar.

Referee: A Woolmer (Northants).