Late show could give Blades the impetus Speed seeks

The Blades, who visit Yorkshire rivals Hull City tomorrow and Doncaster Rovers next weekend, snatched an equaliser five minutes into stoppage time against promotion-chasing Burnley on Saturday.

But Speed was also angry with a 'lack of intelligence' and a level of 'naivete' in the performance that so nearly proved costly.

Goals from Dean Marney and Chris Eagles put Burnley 2-0 ahead before Daniel Bogdanovic and substitute Matt Lowton levelled the scores.

But when former Barnsley loanee Jay Rodriguez scored a third for Burnley in the first minute of added time it looked as if the Blades' afternoon was to end in disappointment.

However, Mark Yeates scored a stunning leveller in the fifth minute of added time.

"If we keep performing like that, our luck will turn," said Speed. "Maybe that is a turning point. I was really proud of them for fighting back but you can't keep climbing a mountain, sliding back down, and expecting to climb it again.

"To let one in again was criminal. Instead of making sure we didn't lose the game, we tried to win it, and there is no excuse for that. It was a lack of intelligence and naivete."

Former Leeds United midfielder Speed, 41, now nine games into full-time management, has revealed that one of his key players, midfielder Nick Montgomery, is struggling with tendonitis.

Montgomery dropped to the bench for the first time in 10 months on Saturday.

The Blades will have striker Jamie Ward available again for tomorrow night's game at Hull after the completion of a three-game ban. But Aston Villa striker Nathan Delfouneso is understood to be a loan target for Speed whose squad is worryingly thin after major budget cuts over the last 15 months.

Bogdanovic was taken off during Saturday's game with cramp and defender Ritchie de Laet was substituted with a calf injury and is another doubt for tomorrow's trip to Hull.

Losing two points was a bitter pill for Burnley manager Brian Laws to swallow on his return to Sheffield, where he managed across the city at Wednesday.

"Any manager would say if you're 2-0 up away from home you expect to go on and win the game," Laws said. "I don't think anyone could have seen how the game was going to pan out."