Slavisa Jokanovic experiences now low with Sheffield United

Sheffield United boss Slavisa Jokanovic called their 3-1 defeat at Blackburn Rovers the Blades’ worst display of the season.

Despite taking a second-minute lead through Rhian Brewster’s stunning volley - his first league goal for the club – Blackburn fought back impressively to overpower the Blades with something to spare.

Reda Khadra’s first goal for the club restored parity before half-time and after the break, the hosts hammered home their superiority through Ben Brereton Diaz’s close range finish – his 13th of a productive season – and Ian Poveda’s first Rovers goal in the 70th minute.

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United drop to 19th after a third defeat in five on the road, and the only two teams they have defeated away are in the bottom three.

Rhian Brewster of Sheffield United. Picture: Simon Bellis / SportimageRhian Brewster of Sheffield United. Picture: Simon Bellis / Sportimage
Rhian Brewster of Sheffield United. Picture: Simon Bellis / Sportimage

Jokanovic said: “The performance was poor. We started the game very well, scored the goal. Maybe after the goal we had a problem with intensity, we made some unforced mistakes and brought them into our box.

“Second half, it’s simple. We conceded the goal after the offensive transition, and after unforced mistakes, even after the set pieces when they started running, we didn’t have enough speed, power, weren’t solid and they found a lot of situations where they could score goals.

“Of course, we created some chances. Billy (Sharp) missed one at the start of the second half. We weren’t clinical in a few situations in the second half but I enjoyed nothing in the game. They were more solid, we weren’t comfortable with the ball.

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“Even the chances we created, they were more dangerous than us. They scored three, they could have scored more.

“In total, we don’t deserve anything other than this defeat. Today was the worst game that we have played.”

Rovers manager Tony Mowbray added: He said: “We talked about getting off to a good start and making sure we were still in the game after 20 minutes.

“Obviously (that) went down well because we found ourselves one down after 80 seconds.

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“I thought they reacted extremely well. It’s no surprise to me, that’s what they do and I’ve been saying that.

Blackburn Rovers: Kaminski, Nyambe, Lenihan, Wharton, Edun, Poveda-Ocampo (Butterworth 90), Travis, Davenport (Rothwell 78), Khadra (Dolan 67), Buckley, Brereton. Unused substitutes: Johnson, Pears, Clarkson, Carter.

Sheffield United: Olsen, Bogle (Baldock 80), Basham, Egan, Stevens, Norwood, Fleck (Ndiaye 64), Brewster (Mousset 64), Gibbs-White, Osborn, Sharp. Unused substitutes: McBurnie, Foderingham, Robinson, Hourihane.

Referee: O Langford (W Midlands).

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