Sheffield Utd 3 Bristol City 0: Blades prove clinical to climb above visitors

Sheffield United coach Chris Morgan. Picture Bruce Rollinson.

Goals from John Brayford, Ryan Flynn and Jose Baxter, with a penalty, eased relegation concerns for Nigel Clough’s side.

Despite making glorious progress into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, United’s League One position has given cause for concern to the manager, his players and Blades’ fans.

But, based on this game, United should be involved in a fight for promotion at the top end of the division rather than being haunted by the threat of relegation.

Coach Chris Morgan called United’s performance in this win over fellow strugglers Bristol City ‘clinical’.

“We always knew it wasn’t a game to lose,” said Morgan, deputising for Clough at the post-match media conference.

“I think the lads have gone out there and applied themselves brilliantly. But what we have to do now is make sure we carry that on.

“We don’t want to relax or ease off because things are still very tight towards the bottom of the table.

“The players, though, do deserve a lot of credit. They played some very good football but they also worked very hard for each other. In this situation, that’s important.

“So the challenge now is to keep that going, maintain the same standards and make sure we are always striving to improve.

“We got ourselves into some good positions and then were clinical when we had to be.”

Morgan added: “I think we’ve been able to take confidence from what we’ve done in the cup, but the league is still our bread and butter and we want to get ourselves out of trouble and then kick-on.

“Keeping our focus and work ethic are going to be the keys to that.”

Bristol City manager Steve Cotterill conceded: “We were abysmal. We didn’t do anything.”

Sheffield United: Howard, Brayford, Maguire, Collins, Harris (Hill 68), Flynn (Davies 70), Coady, Doyle, Murphy (Paynter 77), Scougall, Baxter. Unused substitutes: Porter, Miller, Long, Kennedy.

Bristol City: Moore, Osborne, El-Abd, Flint, Williams, Baldock, Pack (Reid 70), Wade Elliott, Cunningham (Pearson 70), Emmanuel-Thomas (Burns 76),Barnett. Unused substitutes: Fielding, Moloney, Bryan, Gillett.

Referee: S Duncan (Tyne & Wear).