Ipswich Town 3 Sheffield United 0: Nine-man Blades plunged deeper into trouble as Jewell sparkles

Saturday’s defeat, coupled with Crsytal Palace’s win over Middlesbrough, means Micky Adams’s Blades are now four points adrift of safety with the problems piling up for the Bramall Lane club.

Jewell has now registered a hat-trick of successive league victories from only his first four Championship games in charge.

Jewell’s predecessor Roy Keane never managed that feat during 20 months in charge.

Town looked a completely different animal as they played with confidence in contrast to the Blades who are still waiting for their first win under Adams.

Damien Delaney and David Norris put the Tractor Boys 2-0 up before Grant Leadbitter missed an 82nd-minute penalty.

Substitute Connor Wickham added the third in the 87th minute with a simple finish following a mazy run.

It was a miserable afternoon for the Blades who finished the game with nine men following the dismissals of Rob Kozluk and Lee Williamson.

Jewell said: “It was an important three points. The first half was never a classic, because of the strong wind, but we said at half-time that if we needed to win horrible we needed to win horrible.

“It looked like being one of those days when we had to dig the result out but in the second half the game opened up and we looked a different team.

“To win three games on the bounce is very difficult so big credit to the players. It’s important to keep our feet on the floor but the lads have been terrific and winning matches breeds confidence.”

Jewell also had high praise for Wickham and his goal, adding: “It was a great goal and if anyone else had come on the pitch he’d have gone past them too.

“It was like Thierry Henry against Tottenham in a north London derby all those years ago, where he picked the ball up and went past everyone.

“It should do bundles for his confidence. He’s got that in his locker and deserves a lot of plaudits.

“He’s got huge potential and all the tools you need to be a top-class footballer, but I have to be really careful not to put too much pressure on his very young shoulders.” Delaney put talk over his future to one side as he broke the deadlock midway through the first half by heading home a free-kick from home debutant Jimmy Bullard. And it was another man linked with a move away from Portman Road – David Norris – who converted Delaney’s cross shortly after the interval to leave himself one short of a 10-goal season haul for the first time in his career.

Tamas Priskin hit a post for Town while Grant Leadbitter saw his late penalty turned around the post by Steve Simonsen, but there was nothing the Blades stopper could do to deny highly-regarded youngster Wickham a stunning virtuoso third in the 87th minute.

A miserable afternoon was made even worse for United as the visitors saw substitute Kozluk and midfielder Williamson sent off within a minute of each other in the closing stages.

Ipswich: Fulop, Edwards, McAuley, Delaney, Kennedy, Norris, Bullard (Healy 84), Leadbitter, Martin (Civelli 90), Priskin (Scotland 90), Wickham. Unused substitutes: Lee-Barrett, Peters, Smith, O’Dea.

Sheffield United: Simonsen, Parrino (Kozluk 61), Ertl, Collins, Lowry, Williamson, Montgomery, Doyle (Quinn 56), Cresswell, Bent (Yeates 56), Bogdanovic. Unused substitutes: Long, Jordan, Calve, Lowton.

Referee: D Phillips (West Sussex).

Man of the match: Damien Delaney.