McKenna: Sheffield United in False Position
Thursday, 22nd Jan 2026 19:33
Town boss Kieran McKenna believes Saturday’s opponents Sheffield United are in a false position following their disastrous start to the season which saw them lose their first six Championship matches, among them a 5-0 hammering at Portman Road.
The Blades, unfortunate to lose last year’s play-off final to Sunderland having finished third, are 17th, that early season run which left them bottom of the table having led to Chris Wilder returning as boss following the ill-fated summer appointment of Ruben Selles, whose tenure ended after the heavy loss to Town, still the Blues’ biggest win of the campaign.
The South Yorkshire side’s form improved after Wilder’s reappointment for his third spell but they’re currently on a run of three successive defeats in all competitions having been beaten 1-0 at Southampton on Wednesday, at Charlton by the same scoreline having been reduced to nine men last Saturday and prior to that 4-3 at home by League One Mansfield in the FA Cup.
Before that, however, they had won two on the spin, 2-1 at Stoke and 3-1 against Leicester at Bramall Lane.
On their own turf in the league this season, the Blades have won five, drawn two and lost five, the 19th best home form in the division.
Aside from the FA Cup defeat to Mansfield, they are unbeaten in six at Bramall Lane going back to a 3-1 loss to Derby at the start of November, winning four – in which they scored at least three on each occasion – and drawing two.
Only four sides have conceded fewer goals at home than their 13, but 14 teams have scored more in front of their own fans than their total of 18.
McKenna believes the Blades will be a far stiffer proposition on Saturday than they were at Portman Road in September.
“No doubt about it, that’s clear,” he said. “If you look at any metric from the middle of autumn onwards, they’re there or thereabouts with anyone at the top of the league in terms of points gathered, but also in performances and chances created they’ve been one of the top band of teams in the division for a few months now.
“And it’s not hard to understand why. They’ve got a really good manager, got a big connection at the club and a top squad. Depth in each position, two if not three good players for certain positions, real quality, Championship experience, physicality, all the things you need to be successful.
“They obviously had a slow start and we played them in that slow start. Even in that game, you could still feel the quality of some of their individuals on the night but they weren’t doing so well as a team.
“Now, although they had two red cards on Saturday which changed the game and they didn’t get the result last night, you look at their recent games and the results at Bramall Lane and the performances in those games and we know we’re facing a top, top Championship team.
“And that’s something to look forward to, something to relish and we know we’re going to have to bring the best of ourselves.”
Asked whether the South Yorkshiremen are in a false position, he added: “I think they’re in a completely false position because of the start they had to the season.
“If you’d started the league table from October, I don’t know where they’d be, but probably in the top three, top four, I would have thought.
“That’s not a false position, where they are now is just reflective of a top start that they’ve recovered really well from.”
Having won four games in a row at Portman Road from the start of the year, six of Town’s next seven are away from home with Preston’s visit a week on Saturday the Blues’ only match in Suffolk until Swansea travel from South Wales on the final day of February.
“We know it’s going to be a big challenge,” McKenna said. “We’ve had a strange season of runs, really. We had three away games in eight days, which is unusual and six in seven is really unusual as well.
“We’re not thinking about too much yet. We know we have a big away game on Saturday and that’s the focus, and then we’re back home after that, but then the run after that will be a real good challenge for us.
“At the moment, the only challenge in mind is Sheffield United, Bramall Lane in a big game and all the challenges that that brings.
“We’re really looking forward to it. It’s been great having so many games at Portman Road lately, we’ve really enjoyed it, delighted that our home form has been strong, but we know that to be successful we’re going to have to do it and show different qualities away from home as well and the first chance to do that is on Saturday.”
Town go into the game third in the table, two points behind Middlesbrough, who are at home to Preston over Saturday lunchtime, and eight off leaders Coventry, who aren’t in action until Monday when they travel to face Norwich City. The Blues have a game in hand on both Boro and the Sky Blues.
McKenna confirmed at his press conference that both Jaden Philogene (knee) and Marcelino Nunez (ankle) will miss out at Bramall Lane, along with Chuba Akpom, who remains sidelined with his groin issue. None are serious issues.
The Town boss also mentioned that an unnamed player had picked up an injury in training and seems unlikely to be unavailable.
Christian Walton will continue in goal having recorded nine clean sheets in 17 starts since coming into the team in October.
Darnell Furlong and Leif Davis look set to continue as the full-backs with skipper Dara O’Shea and Cedric Kipre the centre-halves, although with Jacob Greaves pressing the Ivorian for his place in the side with his recent displays.
Azor Matusiwa will continue in the centre of midfield, still on nine bookings with a 10th leading to a two-match ban having gone eight games without a caution.
Jack Taylor could return the the XI alongside the Dutchman with Jens Cajuste dropping to the bench.
Sindre Walle Egeli seems likely to come into the side wide on the right with Sammie Szmodics probably handed his first start since suffering a knee injury which required surgery at the end of October as the number 10.
Jack Clarke will be on the left with George Hirst appearing likely to return as the number nine, despite Ivan Azon impressing against the Robins.
The Blades will be without skipper and Japhet Tanganga and midfielder Djibril Soumare who were both sent off in the first half of last week’s 1-0 defeat at Charlton.
New Zealand international centre-half Tyler Bindon has been ruled out due to illness, while midfielder Jairo Riedewald will also be absent with a hamstring injury.
Former Blues loanees Ben Godfrey and Louie Barry have returned to their parent clubs, Atalanta and Aston Villa respectively, having spent the first half of the season on loan at Bramall Lane. Godfrey has subsequently moved on to Brondby in Denmark on another loan.
Wolves right-back Ki-Jana Hoever joined the Blades on loan earlier in the transfer window.
Blues forward Ogbene, who is fit again after his hamstring injury, is on loan with the Blades for the year but is ineligible against his parent club.
Central defender Mark McGuinness, who joined Sheffield United from Luton on deadline day in the smmer, was on loan at Portman Road in 2020/21, making 24 starts and one sub appearance, scoring once.
The Blues made an offer to Blades striker Patrick Bamford earlier in this window, but the former Leeds man and his family instead opted to stay in the North and he signed a new 18-month contract with the South Yorkshiremen.
Town right-back Harry Clarke, who is on loan at Charlton, spent the second half of last season on loan at Bramall Lane making six starts before injury curtailed his campaign.
The Blues have had the better of the Blades over the years, winning 23 times (22 in the league), drawing 26 (23) and losing 22 (19) of the meetings between the sides. However, Town have won only three of the clubs’ last 16 matches.
At Portman Road in September, Philogene hit a hat-trick as Town ended their long wait for a home league win by thrashing Sheffield United 5-0.
Philogene opened the scoring in the 20th minute, then added an even better second on 51, before Hirst made the most of dreadful defending to net the third in the 61st minute.
The Blues wideman completed his treble with his best of the night seven minutes later, before Jack Clarke completed a great night for Town, whose previous home league win had been against Chelsea on December 30th the previous year, 12 minutes from time.
Prior to that, Town had won only twice against the Blades in almost 21 years, a 3-0 success under Paul Jewell at Portman Road in February 2011 when Connor Wickham ran from his own half to add a brilliant third and the visitors ended the game with nine men.
Town, then under Roy Keane, won the away game in the preceding November, their last success against the Blades in South Yorkshire.
The teams most recently met at Bramall Lane in April 2019 with the Blues on their way down to League One and the Blades, with former Town forward David McGoldrick playing a starring role, destined for the top flight.
Scott Hogan and Jack O’Connell netted a goal in each half as Sheffield United comfortably beat the Blues 2-0 to all but secure their return to the Premier League after a 12-year hiatus.
Hogan turned home the opener on 24 and O’Connell added the second in the 71st minute.
Saturday’s referee is Tom Nield, his assistants Graham Kane and Daniel Leach, and the fourth official Samuel Allison.
West Yorkshire-based Nield has shown 60 yellow cards and no red in 17 games so far this season.
An EFL official since 2017, Nield’s last Town match was the 0-0 FA Cup fourth-round draw with Burnley at Portman Road in January 2023 in which he cautioned Sam Morsy and Marcus Harness as well as two Clarets.
He was also in the middle for the 2-0 home defeat by Portsmouth in the Papa Johns Trophy at Portman Road in November the previous year in which he again yellow-carded the former Blues captain and two visitors.
Before that, he was in charge of the 2-0 defeat at Sunderland in November 2021 in which he awarded the Black Cats a late penalty for handball after a Ross Stewart shot struck Toto Nsiala, who was standing just in front of him, which Aiden McGeady converted. In addition, he booked Bersant Celina and four home players.
He refereed the 0-0 home draw with the MK Dons in March in which he booked only Flynn Downes and Armando Dobra.
Prior to that Nield, who is a senior nurse/matron with the Acute & Emergency Service at the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, officiated in the Blues’ 1-0 win at Hull City in February 2021 in which he yellow-carded Nsiala, Myles Kenlock, Keanan Bennetts and two Tigers.
He also took control of the 0-0 draw with Oxford at the Kassam Stadium in 2019/20 when he took the players off for 15 minutes due to monsoon conditions and cautioned Gwion Edwards and one home player.
Nield’s only other Blues match was the 4-0 Leasing.com Trophy victory over Gillingham at Portman Road in October 2019 in which he yellow-carded Emyr Huws and two Gills.
Walton, Palmer, Button, Furlong, Johnson, Young, Davis, O’Shea (c), Greaves, Kipre, Matusiwa, Cajuste, Taylor, Clarke, Walle Egeli, Burns, McAteer, Szmodics, Hirst, Azon.
Photo: TWTD
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