Final word on Sheffield United: Plymouth Argyle just the latest to cop for combination of cussedness, character and quality

They were poor at home to Sunderland, but after Michael Cooper’s penalty save, they won 1-0.

Their passing was off-beam again as West Bromwich Albion team put them under immense pressure, but they escaped with a 2-2 draw.

MiIlwall hit the woodwork twice on Wednesday before Rhian Brewster scored the only goal, the striker's first since October 2022.

Now Plymouth Argyle know the feeling too. They outplayed the Blades in the first half at Bramall Lane – their manager, Wayne Rooney, was pushing it when he argued the second half too – but Leeds United loanee Darko Gyabi missed an open goal, Lewis Gibson headed against a post and goals from Gustavo Hamer and a Kieffer Moore penalty added three more points to the tally.

"That's what Sheffield United have done all season," said Rooney, who used to play for a team who were also pretty good at doing that to you.

Over the course of those four games they have gone from second in the Championship to three points clear at the top. Their unbeaten run is now 10 matches, their home record nine straight wins since Cooper joined from Plymouth, without conceding a goal.

The Blades are entitled not to be at their best right now.

They were without the injured Anel Ahmedhodzic in central defence; their midfield destroyer and creator, Vinicius Souza and Oliver Arblaster, were amongst the walking wounded too; Tyrese Campbell has been out since scoring his sixth goal in eight games at West Brom; Brewster's delicate hamstrings were not up to a second game in three days, Moore came off the bench too, rushed back ahead of schedule according to his manager.

With Michael Obafemi giving Alfie Gilchrist the sort of afternoon he probably spent the night waking up in a cold sweat about, the Blades could have done with Femi Seriki on the bench. He was injured.

Wilder lobbed in the schedule too with a justified moan about being away on Sunday and Wednesday, then playing again on Saturday afternoon. But now the Football League has sold almost all the family silver trying to close the financial chasm to the Premier League, every team in the Championship gets that sort of raw deal at some stage. Last week was the Blades' latest turn.

Wilder admitted in hindsight he should have shuffled his dwindling pack more to take account of it.

Supporters can fret about what their team does not have at the moment. With Burnley and West Brom in town during Christmas week, can these home records really stretch into double figures if they keep pushing their luck like this?

But it is right to celebrate what their team does have – bucketloads of cussedness, togetherness and even with so many key players missing, still a sprinkling of quality.

The Blades had 18-year-old Ryan One leading the line on his first start for the club, Tom Davies starting for the first time this season and making a decisive contribution in the 87th minute.

The determination showed itself in the build-up to the first goal when One, who chased a lost cause a few minutes earlier to win the ball off Bali Mumba, forced a 19th-minute corner with his eagerness.

Gibson headed out Harrison Burrows' delivery but Hamer to ran onto it to show his quality by planting a beautiful half-volley into the net.

Wilder's 52nd-minute triple substitution and formation switch from 4-2-3-1 to 3-4-2-1 had seen his new centre-forward, Moore, far more involved in the game than One – blowing hard as he trudged off around the pitch to the applause of the crowd. But he had two shots blocked and a Gibson slide stopped Sam McCallum picking him out for a third.

When Brewster played the ball down the line for him, and he turned it inside for Davies to burst from midfield onto, the togetherness showed itself too. As Davies was fouled, Brewster must have been aching for the chance to double his goal tally for the season/week, but supportively high-fived designated penalty-taker Moore, who emphatically justified the decision.

Those qualities earn you luck.

Gyabi really should have equalised in the 36th minute after Brendan Galloway's run to the byline drew players to the near post before he forced the ball through to the midfielder with a three-quarters open goal begging.

Gibson headed Adam Randell's deep free-kick onto a post shortly after Wilder's second-half reshuffle and although it looked like Ryan Hardie's header from an excellent Mustapha Bundu cross was going wide, Cooper's flick of the wrist to make sure was terrific.

The Blades are running on empty right now – something the hierarchy need to address in the January transfer market – but to be running at all is some going.

Sheffield United: Cooper; Gilchrist, Souttar, Robinson, Burrows (McCallum 52); T Davies (Norrington-Davies 89), Peck; Rak-Sakyi (Shackleton 52), O'Hare (Brewster 86), Hamer; One (Moore 52). Unused substitutes: A Davies, Baptiste, Brooks, Blacker.

Plymouth Argyle: Grimshaw; Mumba, Szucs, Gibson, Galloway; Randell, Gyabi (Forshaw 74); Bundu (Issaka 80), Al Hajj, Obafemi (Wright 80); Hardie (Gray 74). Unused substitutes: Ogbeta, Houghton, Pleguezuelo, Hazard, Palsson.

Referee: Farai Hallam (Surrey).