Luton Town 1 Sheffield United 3: Persistent Blades show they are still fighting with first Premier League away win of season

Seven days earlier, the Blades had suffered such a morale-crushing victory at home to Aston Villa that you feared another reverse at Kenilworth Road would put the tin lid on their hopes of playing in next season's Premier League.

Only a fool would put money on them staying in the top flight but the important thing is they are putting up a fight and a 3-1 win over the Hatters – their first on the road in this season’s Premier League – has drawn them level with a Burnley side who spent far more in the summer to upgrade an already superiour squad.

There was not a full rainbow as the game finished but at least a trace of one.

The first and third goals owed plenty to the cussedness of the visiting side, whilst the penalty James McAtee scored in between time was all about calmness.

More injuries and a Calrton Morris penalty to pull the score back to 2-1 tested their chin but they refused to stop swinging and got what they deserved.

The game was less than three minutes old when it looked like being one of those days.

McAtee had already shot wide after linking well with Gustavo Hamer when Rhys Norrington-Davies hurtled towards an advertising hoarding and had his day ended by what looked like a knee injury.

The Blades had already lost Ben Brereton Diaz with a "tight hamstring" in the build-up.

Hamer would come off injured early in the second half.

Luton would go on to have the better of the opening half-hour but had little if anything to show for it.

So it looked like Cameron Archer had let the Hatters off the hook when he missed a good 29th-minute chance but like a good striker, he cleared his mind and made up for it within a matter of seconds.

Preferred to Will Osula with Oli McBurnie still injured, he ought to have hit the target when a spot of head tennis saw the ball drop onto his left foot but it was his hunger which got him on the scoresheet, first to the ball ahead of Gabriel Osho, then outmuscling to set up a shooting opportunity he took with calmness.

Vinicius Souza was unable to find the net with a header from Hamer's corner three minutes later but it took a couple of minutes to understand why.

The play was allowed to run for a long time before video assistant referee Paul Tierney whispered in Chris Kavanagh's ear and ordered the man in the middle to take another look via the pitchside monitor. When he did, he saw the header hit the outstretched arm of former Hull City centre-back.

After the sort of bluffing over who would take it that is becoming all the rage, James McAtee sent Thomas Kaminski the wrong way.

"We might be two goals down but we can do this," comes under the category of "Well he would say that, wouldn't he?" but such has been Luton's season that the crowd seemed to believe the rallying cry from the half-time announcer – especially once former Barnsley striker Morris had found the net seven minutes later.

His penalty was a lot like McAtee's – a handball by Souza, who appeared to be too concerned about messing up his peroxide hairdo not seen at first, but spotted on the monitor.

Morris put it in the same part of the same net as the goalkeeper once more dived the other way.

And then the nailbiting really began in the away end.

Souza capped an excellent individual performance by settling the nerves at the end of a move he started by taking the ball off Ross Barkley in midfield. When Archer carried it down a blind alley, it looked like the chance had gone, but that was not the story of this game.

The Blades kept the ball alive and worked it to Souza, who smashed in a 74th-minute goal.

Nine added minutes meant the away fans could never truly relax – Wes Foderingham came off his line to save with his chest from Elijah Adebayor with 12 minute of regulation time left – but as a riposte to such a terribly limp defeat a week earlier, it was just what was needed.

They are still fighting.

Luton Town: Kaminski; Burke (Townsend 68), Osho, Bell; Ogbene, Sambi Lokonga, Barkley, Doughty (87); Clark (Chong 53), Morris (Woodrow 87); Adebayo.

Unused substitutes: Kabore, Mengi, Mpanzu, Brown, Krul.

Sheffield United: Foderingham; Bogle, Holgate, Ahmedhodzic, Robinson, Norrington-Davies (Lowe 5); Hamer (Davies 58), Souza, Osborn; McAtee (Norwood 80); Archer (Brewster 80).

Unused substitutes: Trusty, Larouci, Osula, Brooks, Amissah.

Referee: C Kavanagh (Manchester).