The Blades won a place in round two after overthrowing Burton Albion (2-1) at the Pirelli Stadium on 30 August but made heavy work of their victory after falling behind on 73 minutes to a Justin Richards goal.
Three minutes later midfielder David McAllister fired home past the League Two side to draw the scores level and Norwegian forward Erik Tonne (80) found the winner.
Least could be said for their League One fixture with Charlton Athletic who slumped to a 2-0 defeat, causing their second consecutive loss. United played well but were guilty of luckless finishing which later proved costly.
In the second half Addicks boss Chris Powell brought on Yann Kermorgant (65) and his first job was the head home from a corner. Within two minutes they had doubled their lead when Bradley Wright-Phillips (67) capitalised on an error from Neill Collins to fire home past Steve Simonsen.
Blades boss Danny Wilson showed his intent in going all the way in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy in the summer having won the competition in 2003 with Bristol City, beating Carlisle United (2-0) in the show piece final at the Millennium Stadium.
In order to progress they must beat Rotherham United who shares City links after moving to Don Valley Stadium in 2009. They will be without Chris Morgan (knee), Andy Taylor (knee) and Johannes Ertl (knee) are all sidelined through injury.
However they could see midfielder Nick Montgomery (ankle) return to the starting line-up after recoving from injury and started last weekend’s game from the bench.
The Blades could start midfielder Stephen Quinn who spent time with the Millers earlier in his career. He joined the club on loan (from United) in January 2006 and remained with the Millmoor club until April where he played 16 times without scoring.
Blades Possible Line-Up...
Long
Lowton Maguire Collins Parrino
Flynn McAllister Williamson Quinn
Evans Tonne
:: Head-to-Head ::
|
venue |
p |
w |
d |
l |
gf |
ga |
|
Bramall Lane |
16 |
10 |
2 |
4 |
33 |
21 |
|
DVS |
17 |
9 |
5 |
3 |
31 |
17 |
|
Total |
33 |
19 |
7 |
7 |
64 |
38 |