Time for revenge

Last updated : 15 October 2010 By Bladesmadeditor

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It was a season which boasted the best away record in the club's history, but the Blades narrowly missed out on promotion on a couple of occasions.

They entered the final game of the season needing a win against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, and hoping Birmingham slipped up at Reading, but the Blades drew and the Blues were triumphant.

Going into this weekend's clash with the Clarets brings back some forgettable memories, especially when you look at it from this perspective:

United were obviously beaten in the Championship play-off final 1:0, but Burnley did the league double over the Blades that season, and if Kevin Blackwell's men were to have won either of those games (3:2 loss at the Lane and 1:0 loss at Turf Moor), promotion would have been ours on goal difference with those extra three points, and we wouldn't have had to have been put through all of that play-off heartbreak.

Gary Speed said: "It will be nice if the boys who are still here are fired up to get one back on Burnley this weekend. It might also be on the minds of the supporters which hopefully means they will get behind us even more and give us the push we need to stick the ball into the net."

They are usually tasty games between ourselves and our Lancastrian counterparts, but there will be another added spice with the return of former Sheffield Wednesday manager Brian Laws.

Laws is now the manager of Burnley who, incidentally, haven't won away from home this season. Wednesday completed the league double over United when Laws was in charge, but he did have to suffer a 3:2 Blades win at Bramall Lane last season before leaving Wednesday.

Ahead of the game, Laws said: "There's going to be a lot of symbolism around this game. And I know my associations with Wednesday are going to give it even more spice.

"I'm sure I'm going to cop a lot of flak from the United fans – especially, I'd imagine, during the first five or 10 minutes – but there have been enough changes to the playing staff at both clubs that I don't think it's going to be so much of an issue among the players."

Do United really need any further incentives to give this lacklustre start to the season a kick up the backside?

COME ON YOU RED AND WHITE WIZARDS!

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