The Blades have six games remaining to save their season and finish in a play-off spot. In reality they will need to win all of their remaining games, which even then may not guarantee them a top six spot. After tomorrow's fixture with Gillingham, United's fixture list looks like this; 16 Apr - Chesterfield (a), 19 Apr - Shrewsbury Town (a), 23 Apr - Barnsley (h), 30 Apr - Coventry City (a) and 8 May - Scunthorpe United (h).
If league results were governed by aggregate scores then this fixture would surely be already decided, owing to Gillingham's 4-0 win on the opening day of the season, and giving Nigel Adkins the worse start to his Sheffield United reign.
The Blades are 8th in the table and eight points behind 6th placed Millwall, whom are at home to Shrewsbury Town tomorrow. United boosted any hopes of reaching the play-offs with a victory at home to Walsall last weekend, though the chances of reaching their goal is still a mountain to climb.
Sheffield United put a huge dent in Walsall's automatic-promotion hopes as first-half goals from Chris Basham and Billy Sharp gave them a 2-0 victory at Bramall Lane. Matt Done had the first chance of the game in the 25th minute but his close-range strike was parried away by Walsall goalkeeper Neil Etheridge. United took the lead through a Basham header after 31 minutes. Ryan Flynn played a neat reverse pass down the left to Done, who, without hesitation, delivered an inch-perfect cross for the incoming Basham to finish off.
United added to their lead five minutes later as good work on the right side by Basham was finished off exquisitely on the volley by Sharp. Basham went close again in the second half, connecting sweetly to a volley from the edge of the area after Walsall failed to clear their lines properly. In the 56th minute, the visitors had their first sniff at goal but United keeper George Long was quickly off his line to smother Tom Bradshaw's stabbed effort.
Blades boss Nigel Adkins was boosted by the return of David Edgar to the side against Walsall, after he missed the victory against Crewe (3-2) and the defeat at Southend (1-3), whilst away on International duty with Canada. The Canadians lost their 2018 World Cup Qualifier at home to Mexico by three goals to nil, with Edgar featured as an unused substitute.
Meanwhile Right Wing-Back John Brayford (calf) remains after picking up an injury in training prior to last Wednesday's fixture, though Forward Martyn Woolford (ankle) has returned to the side as a substitute in the games against Southend and Walsall.
Blades-Mad Prediction: Sheffield United 2 Gillingham 1
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