Sheffield United 0 Preston NE 1: Boyhood Blade Davies adds to Weir’s troubles on Lane return

The former England striker grew up just a mile from the Blades’ ground and was a boyhood Unitedite, a regular on the terraces until he was 15.

So it was bitter-sweet for the Sheffield-born striker to return to Bramall Lane on Saturday and pile on the misery for his hometown club – with his family in the stands to witness it.

Preston previously won at Bramall Lane nearly 35 years ago, in November 1978, but Davies had a massive hand in ending that sorry sequence.

The 36-year-old came out on top in a tussle with Blades left-back Matt Hill – the feeling in the United camp is it probably was a foul – before Davies played in Stuart Beavon.

The former Wycombe goalpoacher teased Blades goalkeeper George Long before firing home to stretch the winless run under manager David Weir to seven matches in League One.

“It was nice to come back, I haven’t been here for a number of years now,” said Davies, who started out playing with Chesterfield. “To play here and get a result like that...

“I came down here all the time. Up until I was 15 I used to come to all the home games.

“I had a few uncles and sisters here (on Saturday). My family’s split – my dad is a Wednesday fan, my older brother United.

“I don’t think I was here for that game,” he joked when reminded the previous time Preston won at Bramall Lane he was just 18 months old. “I only lived a mile up the road, but I must have missed that one.”

Davies denied he had fouled Hill in the lead-up to the goal.

“There was no contact. I think he slipped or something, tried to recover, I don’t know what happened to him. I saw Bev (Beavon) on his own, a fantastic bit of skill.

“He cut inside, I think he sold the whole stand (with his dummy), and put the ball in the net.”

The Blades were one of the pre-season favourites for promotion, and Davies, like many, is amazed at their stuttering start to the campaign. United have not won in the league since the opening day of the season when they beat 
10-man Notts County 2-1.

But on Saturday, with new signings, striker Marlon King and winger Ryan Hall, making their debuts the Blades were unlucky in defeat.

They had plenty of possession, but again lacked incisiveness in front of goal. Centre-half Neill Collins wasted one of their best chances when he headed wide from a corner, and United had two good penalty appeals rejected.

Beavon’s goal aside, there was little between the two sides, and you would have struggled to say who was in the top six (Preston) and who was in the bottom four (United).

Had chances for the impressive Jose Baxter or jet-heeled Febian Brandy crept in, it could have been a different outcome.

Certainly, Davies and his team-mates were not fooled by United’s league position.

“We all know where they are in the table, but we were under no illusions as to what a good side they are. They have just signed a couple of great players (in Ryan Hall and Marlon King),” he said.

“I am sure they will feel disappointed they didn’t get at least a draw out of that game, but that’s the way it goes when you are down there, you don’t get the breaks.

“The size of the club, I think they are probably expecting to get out of this division this year. But it’s a competitive league.

“There are some good sides in here and probably 10 or 12 teams who think they can have a good run at it (promotion).”

Weir now has to ensure a dressing room low in confidence after five successive league defeats does not graduate to “feeling sorry for themselves”.

Key decisions, like the ‘foul’ on Hill and penalty rejections, went against the Blades but Weir is demanding a positive response as they look ahead to a trip to title favourites Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.

“We can’t hide our disappointment at another defeat because there were so many positives in the performance. We certainly had a lot of shots on goal but again we end up losing 1-0,” Weir said.

“I thought we would break Preston down because we created chances and played in good areas, but at the moment all the breaks are going against us.

“This is a big challenge because I don’t like losing and we can’t keep coming out and saying the same things.

“But I can see the players are giving me everything they have. Their effort and commitment cannot be questioned.

“We thought it was a foul on Matt (Hill) for the goal and we thought we should have had a penalty at the other end, but the referee makes the decision as he sees it and at the moment it sums up our luck that they both went against us.

“The dressing room is low following another defeat and we again are left bitterly disappointed and frustrated but we can’t afford to feel sorry for ourselves. We must react in the right manner.”

Sheffield United: Long, McMahon, Collins, Maguire, Hill, Hall (Taylor 72), Doyle (McGinn 90), Cuvellier, Baxter, Brandy (Westlake 80), King. Unused substitutes: Howard, McGinty, Coady, Ironside.

Preston North End: Rudd, Huntington, Clarke, Wright, Keane, Laird, Humphrey, Byrom, Davies, Beavon (Garner 85), Hume (Holmes 75). Unused substitutes: Stuckmann, Buchanan, Wroe, Welsh, Mousinho.

Referee: F Graham (Essex).