Verdict: Sheffield United 2 Birmingham City 1 '“ Perseverance paying off as Clarke enjoys hero status at Bramall Lane

The 32-year-old – who has taken in a further 16 clubs since starting out at Wolverhampton Wanderers – is the Championship’s top scorer this morning with 13 goals.

Nine of those have come in Sheffield United’s last four games, a remarkable sequence which has completed the renaissance from a journeyman striker to the second-tier’s leading man.

Blades fans, who serenaded him with chants of “Leon, Leon” after his second-half strike rescued a point against struggling Birmingham City on Saturday have taken him to their hearts.

A three-year spell with cross-city rivals Wednesday is a distant memory. In fact, the 20 goals that Clarke has scored in 27 league starts for United – since being plucked from Bury – has surpassed his 18 league goals for the Owls between 2007-10.

After a nomadic career taking in footballing outposts like Oldham, Southend, Swindon, Crawley and Scunthorpe, Clarke seems to have found the perfect environment in which to thrive.

Chris Wilder’s Bramall Lane revolution is making heroes of this current Blades team, and despite dropping two points against Birmingham – who stunned United with a superb long-range strike from Jeremie Boga – United are awash with positivity.

Clarke’s exploits are certainly appreciated inside the Bramall Lane dressing room.

“It’s obviously a massive, massive help to have someone like him in the team,” said Blades midfielder John Lundstram.

“We are going into every game feeling we can get a result because of the form he’s in.

“Huge credit to Leon; he put the work in on the training field and he’s a top, top lad off the pitch. I’m really happy to see him performing how he is.

“We all work incredibly hard and none more so than Leon.

“He’s putting in the miles, he’s running his socks off right until the last minute and he’s getting the reward for that.

“He’s charismatic, he’s funny and he’s a massive part of the squad off the pitch.”

It had been Lundstram, the former Doncaster Rovers loan midfielder, who actually went closest to turning United’s domination into a goal in a one-sided first half.

First, his fierce shot was blocked by impressive Blues defender Harlee Dean, then goalkeeper David Stockdale managed to palm away Lundstram’s 20-yard drive.

But when United failed to clear a corner, the ball was drilled into the top corner by Boga – on loan from Chelsea – with goalkeeper Jamal Blackman failing to keep it out despite getting a hand on it.

The 20-year-old midfielder was Birmingham’s best player, hardly surprising given his last goal came against Barcelona in La Liga, while on loan with Granada last season.

As the game progressed, frustration started to creep in around Bramall Lane, with United thwarted by a Blues side – employing three centre-halves – who had only taken one point on their travels before Saturday.

But up popped Clarke – who surprisingly had scuffed an earlier opportunity wide – to prevent back-to-back home defeats, following Tuesday’s amazing 5-4 loss to Fulham.

With Wilder showing his attacking modus operandi with the substitutions for forward-thinking midfielders Samir Carruthers and David Brooks, the equaliser came within three minutes. Clarke started the move before Brooks picked out the striker – offered a criminal amount of space by the Blues’ retreating backline – and he slotted the ball beyond a stranded Stockdale.

A draw denied newly-promoted United the chance of reclaiming a top-two spot in the Championship.

But former Everton youngster Lundstram added: “The fans clapped us off because they can see the effort we are putting in.

“I thought the performance was there, but we just couldn’t quite get the end product we’d have liked.”

Sheffield United: Blackman, Carter-Vickers (Carruthers 68), Wright, O’Connell, Basham, Stevens, Lundstram, Fleck, Duffy, Clarke, Sharp (Brooks 68). Unused substitutes: Moore, Donaldson, Hanson, Stearman, Lafferty.

Birmingham City: Stockdale, Roberts, Morrison, Dean, Nsue, Kieftenbeld, Ndoye, Grounds, Jota (Maghoma 79), Jutkiewicz (Gallagher 90), Boga (Adams 87). Unused substitutes: Kuszczak, Cotterill, O’Keeffe, Gleeson.

Referee: J Simpson.