Sheffield United 0 Yeovil Town 2: Blades set to pitch in with new approach to the top

SHEFFIELD United may be forced to take a more direct route to promotion unless their ground staff can work wonders with the Bramall Lane pitch.

In hindsight, it would have been better for their 150th anniversary game against Hartlepool on December 29 to have been postponed because the deluge of that morning resulted in the pitch being badly cut up and it now resembles a wavy beach once the tide has gone out.

Defeat to Hartlepool and now Yeovil can not wholly be attributed to the state of the pitch but its bobbly surface certainly hampers the Blades’ passing game.

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Fortunately, they do not have another home game this month and manager Danny Wilson hopes a solution can be found in that time.

Regarding a possible change of approach, Wilson said: “You’re absolutely right. We have to make sure the pitch is our friend and not an opponent. There are times when you are playing the ball and attempting to pass it and it’s bobbling up and you get pressed down.

“It’s easy to be pressed by the opposition on such a pitch. If you have the Emirates surface, people don’t get near you, the ball zips and that is how we want to play but we have a bit of a problem.

“We are going to have look at things and play in a different style. It’s nothing to do with the guys who are looking after it – it’s the elements and the fact that it is enclosed and the water that’s come down on it.

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“They have done their damndest to get it back in condition but we have three weeks off it now so it might change by the time we play here again. Otherwise, we have to be professional enough to play our football in a different way.”

Playing away from home may also help some of the younger players relax, though Danny Higginbotham, who made his home debut along with Jamie Murphy, believes all the squad should embrace the pressure they are under.

The Manchester United product, signed on a free from Stoke until the end of the season, said: “The pressure is on when you are here but you can’t make excuses. It is difficult at times for the younger players but it’s a good pressure. If you’re playing for a club like this it’s massive and you do have to handle it. I don’t use it as an excuse.

“Both sets of fans at Stoke and here are very, very passionate and as a player it’s great to play in front of passionate fans. They just want to see the lads giving everything and I have always said that fans are entitled to their opinion – you can’t have it both ways.

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“It’s up to us to give them something to cheer about and today we didn’t. This place will be buzzing when we are winning games and it’s something we have got to get back to doing.”

Higginbotham, 34, played in the heart of the defence alongside Harry Maguire but Wilson acknowledged the Blades were too open at the back against robust opposition smarting from a JP Trophy exit in midweek.

The Blades got an early reprieve when Paddy Madden raced on to Maguire’s weak back header only to curl his shot wide.

The Irishman did not let them off the hook again, scoring twice in front of the Kop after the break. He first latched on to central defender Byron Webster’s through ball from the edge of the area and cut inside to hit an angled drive inside the far post and then made the game safe by capitalising on George Long’s clanger.

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It seemed a lost cause as Madden chased Higginbotham’s 66th-minute back pass but the England Under-21 goalkeeper dithered and then lost control, allowing the striker to stab the ball home from close range.

Wilson said: “We will put our arm round George and get him through it. That position normally is punished when you make a mistake but George is mentally tough and he’ll get through it no problem at all.”

With his squad down to the bare bones due to injuries and with striker John Cofie having been recalled by Manchester United, Wilson had three academy players on the bench and he admitted: “We think a lot about the boys but it is a big ask. We have 20,000 people in here with a big expectation and they expect us to win games. We have to take the pressure off the young lads because maybe they are not ready, but are in there because we have no other bodies at the moment.

“In an ideal world we would take our time with them but time is at a premium at the moment and we need to make sure they are ready if called upon.”

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On a defiant note, he added: “We have to put our foot down on the accelerator and go for it. We have to roll our sleeves up and give it a good go.”

Sheffield United: Long, McMahon, Maguire, Higginbotham, Williams (Philliskirk 89); Blackman, McDonald, Doyle, Flynn (Ironside 62); Murphy; Kitson (Cresswell 74). Unused substitutes: Westlake, Whitehouse, Barry, Coyne.

Yeovil Town: Stech, Ayling, Webster, Burn, McAllister; Dawson, Upson, Dolan (Blizzard 80), Foley; Hayter, Madden. Unused substitutes: Hinds, Williams, Reid, Stewart, Ralph.

Referee: D Phillips (Sussex).