Sheffield United 2 Shrewsbury Town 0: Blades’ graft gets its reward with home triumph

The only previous victories this year for Nigel Clough’s strugglers had seen Aston Villa and Fulham knocked out of the Cup.

Defeats to fellow strugglers such as Notts County and Crewe in the League had left the Blades deep in the relegation zone and in danger of dropping down to the fourth tier of English football.

But on Saturday, they reproduced the safety-first approach which had frustrated Fulham for 120 minutes at Craven Cottage in midweek.

Clough picked Jose Baxter as a lone striker – opting against using a traditional centre-forward – and packed midfield in a 4-5-1 formation.

This strategy relied on midfielders breaking from deep and saw the Blades score twice in the opening 18 minutes – via Ryan Flynn and Stefan Scougall – before closing up shop and killing off the game.

It was not particularly pretty, but Clough was relieved to have finally picked up their first League win since December 29.

“It was a hard-working performance, and I’m happy with a clean sheet,” was Clough’s verdict.

“We got two early goals, didn’t sit back, but made sure Shrewsbury had to work very hard to create chances against us.

“Sometimes you have to grind it out, be professional and be more concerned about stopping the opposition than creating yourself, especially when you have a two-goal lead.”

United have been guilty of being too cavalier at home. They led Bradford City three weeks earlier 2-0 only for the Bantams to exploit defensive gaps and snatch a 2-2 draw.

Saturday’s formation and graft meant Shrewsbury were never in the game.

“We had it (a 2-0 lead) against Bradford a couple of weeks ago and lost it, we didn’t want to lose it again, it’s too important,” said Clough.

“We needed that win. We are fourth from bottom and have games in hand, we just have to make them count.

“We got the goals early on and looked after our lead which we haven’t done previously.

“In the second half we visibly had a few running on empty and that was to be expected, but we were determined to make Shrewsbury work very hard for an opening and in the end they couldn’t break us down.

“We have got 18 league games to go; we need to target a certain amount of wins to make sure we are safe.”

The opening goal came on 11 minutes. Scougall scampered down the left flank and when he pulled the ball across goal, Flynn cut in from the opposite side to score.

It was soon 2-0. This time Neill Collins carried the ball deep into the visitors’ half before setting up Scotsman Scougall whose scruffy long-range shot did enough to beat goalkeeper Chris Weale.

United should have increased the advantage, but Baxter – the one change from the side which knocked out Fulham in midweek – volleyed over, and Jamie Murphy was also off-target with an effort.

Flynn’s goal was his first since he netted in the 2-1 FA Cup third-round win at Villa, but this was just as important.

“It was a massive three points, especially at home, to get back to winning ways,” said the 25-year-old former Liverpool youngster.

“I thought we deserved it. We just frustrated them, then hit them on the break.

“We took what we did in the Cup, took it and carried it on.

“We defended well and really frustrated them. I thought our game plan worked, it worked really well.

“The Bradford game we took the game to them and I don’t think anyone could argue we should have got the three points.

“Ideally that’s what you want to do every game. But in the position we are in, points are more important, they are vital.”

Successive clean sheets have seen goalkeeper Mark Howard – preferred to England Under-21 goalkeeper George Long – repay Clough’s faith.

The manager revealed Howard is likely to have an extended run in the side, starting with Wednesday night’s visit of League leaders Brentford, who include Clough’s predecessor David Weir in their coaching set-up. “Mark did nothing wrong the other night (at Fulham),” said Clough. “He has been a model professional in training, his attitude is great and supported George (Long).

“We hadn’t had a chance to look at him in games, his contract’s up, so we wanted to give him a run of games, which we intend to do. He has done nothing wrong, kept two clean sheets, so he will stay in for now.”

Clough was also full of praise for Baxter, who epitomised United’s hard-working afternoon.

“We stuck him (Baxter) up front to get hold of the ball,” said Clough, who had a bench packed with attackers in Chris Porter, Billy Paynter, Shaun Miller and Diego De Girolamo.

“He’s probably the best player we have got to get hold of the ball and bring other people into play.

“In Stefan Scougall and Conor Coady we have the legs in midfield and Ryan Flynn and Jamie Murphy prove a constant threat down the flanks.

“Brentford will be a different challenge on Wednesday night and we might need to freshen things up, but we’ll see how the lads are after a couple of days’ rest.

“People have asked why can’t we play like we did on Tuesday in League games. We did (on Saturday), you see the results.

“You get the quality, but you do afford the opposition quite a bit of possession, which we don’t like doing at Bramall Lane.”

Sheffield United: Howard, Harris, Brayford, Maguire, Flynn, Baxter, McGinn (Miller 68), Collins, Coady (Porter 83), Scougall, Murphy. Unused substitutes: Hill, Paynter, Long, Kennedy, De Girolamo.

Shrewsbury Town: Weale, Jacobson (Schmeltz 48), McAllister, Fyvie (Grandison 79), Taylor, Mkandawire, Parry, Goldson, Woods, Eaves, Mills (Atajic 70). Unused substitutes: Winfield, Bradshaw, Anyon, Hall.

Referee: A Haines (Tyne & Wear).