Sheffield United and Nigel Clough have now gone five games with consecutive victories having claimed league victories home and away against Shrewsbury Town (2-0), Gillingham (1-0) and last Saturday's emphatic win over Bristol City (3-0) which saw John Brayford score his first goal in United colours. Adding to this are victories in the FA Cup which has seen the lowly League One club reach the Quart-Finals and at the time of writing await the winners between Sheffield Wednesday at Charlton Athletic. United beat Fulham (1-0) in extra-time and Nottingham Forest (3-1) recently during this great cup-run.
Sheffield United boosted their League One survival hopes with a comfortable 3-0 victory over fellow strugglers Bristol City last weekend. John Brayford opened the scoring for Nigel Clough's side before Ryan Flynn combined with Jamie Murphy to double the advantage. United, who climbed above the Robins in the table, sealed maximum points courtesy of Jose Baxter's penalty as City, who barely made an impression on the match, were left to reflect on a potentially costly afternoon.
The Blades dominated the opening period but we forced to wait until the 43rd minute before taking the lead. Wade Elliott's shot, which flew safely wide of Mark Howard's far post, proved to be a rare moment of promise for City who from that moment on found themselves struggling to contain the hosts. Aden Flint was forced to hack clear off the line after Murphy, one of the stars of United's march into the FA Cup quarter-finals, pressurised Simon Moore into a mistake as they contested a looping high ball before fellow winger Flynn swept a shot inches wide from an acute angle.
Harry Maguire appeared destined to break the deadlock after powering through to the edge of City's six-yard box but Jay Emmanuel-Thomas bravely flung himself in front of a fierce shot. A feature of United's play under Clough has been their ability to wreak havoc down the flanks. So, with compatriot Stefan Scougall asked to drive beyond lone striker Jose Baxter at every opportunity, it was no surprise to see the two Scots continue to feature at the heart of United's best moves. But Brayford, on loan from Cardiff, was responsible for handing United the lead when he fired home after Maguire had helped on Baxter's corner.
The visitors, aware of the afternoon's significance, looked a much more cohesive unit at the start of the second half. But again it was United, this time through Bob Harris, who came closest to scoring when his free-kick was saved by Moore. However, he was powerless to prevent Flynn from doubling the advantage just before the hour after the ever-threatening Murphy had ghosted past Karleigh Osborne and found his colleague on the edge of the box.
The hapless Osborne was responsible for conceding the foul on Flynn which allowed Baxter to convert from the spot in the 70th minute. Mark Howard denied Elliott and Sam Baldock with a fine double save during the closing stages.
Blades boss Nigel Clough has no fresh injury concerns to be dealt with ahead of tonight's important League One clash. Meanwhile forward Ben Davies could make his full debut following his loan signing from Derby County in midweek - he has today made two substitute appearances.
For United, a trip to Colchester presents a good opportunity to climb further up the league table at a ground where the Blades kick-started their FA Cup campaign, and more importantly away from the bottom four relegation spots. The U's currently lay 16th in the table and level on points with the Blades (but posses a four goal better goal difference) after last weekend's fixture which saw Brian Wilson's late own goal clinched promotion-chasing Preston a hard-earned 2-1 victory at Colchester. The U's skipper inadvertently headed Joe Garner's cross into his own net in the 82nd minute to hand Preston victory. Preston went close in the seventh minute when Joe Garner's header clattered the crossbar from Chris Humphrey's cross.
But the visitors took the lead just before the half-hour mark when defender Tom Clarke powerfully headed home Paul Gallagher's set-piece to score. Colchester were awarded a penalty soon after following Declan Rudd's foul on Marcus Bean in the area, but the Preston goalkeeper recovered to save Jabo Ibehre's weak penalty. Ibehre made up for his miss nine minutes after half-time when he planted a superb shot into the far corner after his long run from the halfway line had initially resulted in his shot being blocked.
U's goalkeeper Sam Walker made a superb save to foil Garner's header from point-blank range as Preston pressed. The visitors' winner arrived with nine minutes to go when Humphrey latched on to Garner's pass and his cross hit U's skipper Wilson before sailing into the net for the winner.
A victory for either side tonight could see them (other results pending) jump to twelth in the table but at this stage in the season the play-off's may be beyond anyone chasing the top six positions with currently a 14 point gap between Peterborough United and Sheffield United/Colchester.
United boss Joe Dunne will be without forward Sanchez Watt who serves the second of a three match suspension after being handed a straight red card in the 0-0 draw with Swindon Town.
Blades-Mad Prediction: Colchester United 0 Sheffield United 1