Match Preview: Leyton Orient vs. Sheffield United

Last updated : 29 December 2008 By @blades_mad1889

leyton orient vs. sheffield united
Having squeezed past Colchester United (1-0) and Bradford City (2-1) away from home there is no doubt that the O's are happy to be back at Brisbane Road against another Yorkshire outfit in Sheffield United for the Third Round of the FA Cup.

In their final league fixture of 2008 the O's came face to face with the U's (Colchester United) but came unstuck in a 1-0 defeat - Steven Gillespie's penalty on 39th minute became the only difference.

The visitors also saw Sean Thornton dismissed for two book able offences, the former Sunderland and Doncaster Rovers midfielder will be suspended for one match, against Sheffield United - Paul Terry (brother of Chelsea and England defender John Terry) may take his place.

The O's will also be without former Wimbledon and Southend United striker Wayne Gray (knee), whom is a long term injury. Meanwhile on loan Tottenham Hotspur striker Simon Dawkins was absent from their trip to Colchester due to a virus, he may well be missing against the Blades as well.

Possible O's Line-Up: Glenn Morris, Jason Demetriou, Tamika Mkandawire, Andrew Cave-Brown, Brian Saah, Stephen Purches, Paul Terry, Adam Chambers, Adam Boyd, Sam Parkin, Ryan Jarvis.

Sheffield United head into this third round clash having claimed all three points against Charlton Athletic in what was a dogged affair - had the game been on national television I'm sure neutrals would have turned off at half-time. Never the less it was the visitors who went into the break a goal to the good; Hameur Bouazza (33 minute) proving the difference.

In the second half things were different, United struck level on 65th minute when James Beattie laid off Stephen Quinn to fire home before Danny Webber (72) tapped home at the second attempt to hand the Blades the lead. Seven minutes later Quinn grabbed a second when his free-kick flew into the back of the net; 3-1.

Sheffield United travel to Orient having claimed points on the road in their previous seven outings; their fine ran began on 28th October when they drew 0-0 at Bristol City and since then have claimed points at; Barnsley (won 2-1), Charlton Athletic (won 5-2), Ipswich Town (drew 1-1), Nottingham Forest (won 1-0), Swansea City (drew 1-1) and Wolverhampton Wanderers (drew 1-1), picking up thirteen points in the process. The last time the Blades lost on their travels was a 1-0 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday.

Blades boss Kevin Blackwell will be without midfielder Gary Speed (back) and defender Ugo Ehiogu (Achilles) who are both out for the remainder of the season; he may also be without Matthew Kilgallon (flu) who was drugged up prior to their fixture with Charlton Athletic.

Forward Darius Henderson will be available for selection once again; the former Watford striker missed the league fixtures against; Crystal Palace (h), Wolverhampton Wanderers (a) and Charlton Athletic (h) t suspension after being sent off at Swansea City.

Its likely that changes will be made with Championship football deemed more important; but Kyle Walker (Northampton Town) and Keith Gillespie (Charlton Athletic) have been recalled from their loan spells and may feature at Brisbane Road.

However on loan players; Nathan Dyer (Southampton) and Anthony Stokes (Sunderland) may not be allowed to feature if they respected club forbids it. Whilst Greg Halford (Sunderland) and Matthew Spring (Luton Town); both on season long loans are available for selection. Meanwhile midfielder Brian Howard should have completed his move from Barnsley before this fixture.

Possible Blades Line-Up: Justin Haber, Sun Jihai, Chris Morgan, Kyle Walker, Gary Naysmith, Keith Gillespie, Nick Montgomery, Matthew Spring, David Carney, Darius Henderson, Billy Sharp.