Adams urges Blades to stay positive in face of ‘impossible task’

The Blades host third-placed Cardiff City tomorrow night after suffering an unfortunate 2-1 defeat at home to Middlesbrough at the weekend.

Although Scunthorpe United and Preston North End both climbed above the Blades – picking up a win and a draw, respectively – the gap to safety remained at seven points thanks to Crystal Palace’s defeat at Ipswich Town.

“When you switch the teletext on and see the league tables, there is not an ‘R’ there yet,” said Adams, “If we give it up mentally, we have got no chance.

“I would look daft if I said we don’t have a problem but we have got to remain positive. We have an important game on Tuesday and we have to believe that we can get out of it although, looking at it, it looks an impossible task.”

Adams criticised the performance of referee Kevin Woolmer after his side’s latest defeat saying the official should have shown red cards to Middlesbrough duo Marvin Emnes and Rhys Williams. Emnes went onto score the winning goal in the 89th minute.

“We felt hard done by with a couple of major incidents involving the referee,” he said. “They talk about the ‘Respect’ campaign. Well, you have got to earn respect.

“I think the referee will be disappointed with his performance. The boy who scored the goal (Emnes) should not even have been on the pitch. He clearly kicked out at (Michael) Doyle. The referee was seven yards away looking straight at it.

“We don’t want to see anyone sent off but (Blades defender) Joe Mattock was booked for tripping somebody and their lad does exactly the same, Williams, and there is no consistency. He had already been booked and should have been sent off.”

Middlesbrough manager Tony Mowbray rejected the theory and defended striker Emnes.

“I did not see anything and neither did the referee,” said Mowbray. “Marvin is a fantastic lad, a quiet introvert boy and wouldn’t kick out at anyone in a million years unless he was severely provoked.”

Blades captain Nick Montgomery missed the game after his newly-born twins were admitted to intensive care in Leeds.

Adams said: “I can’t force people to play when they have got personal issues. Nick’s wife had twins on Thursday night or Friday morning. There have been problems and they are in intensive care in Leeds. We just hope they are well and, once they are out of intensive care, he can relax and get back to playing football.”

Striker Darius Henderson, who deputised for Montgomery as captain, was booed off the field after missing a series of goalscoring opportunities.

However, team-mate Matt Lowton stressed that now is a time for unity at the club.

“We have to stay together, we can’t pick people out. There is no blame culture,” he said. “Everyone is disappointed. We have missed our chances and they have nicked it at the end, which is tough to take, but we can’t afford to sulk.”

Boro captain Matthew Bates believes his club can virtually forget any fears of relegation,

“We can’t rest until it’s mathematically impossible but it’s going to take a strange set of results for us to go down,” he said.

Match report: Page 3.