CONSISTENCY and cohesiveness ... two of Chris Morgan's pre-requisites for success in English football's most unforgiving division.
Both qualities were absent for long spells at Bramall Lane last month but, having signed-off what was threatening to become a very black Septe mber with back to back victories, Sheffield United's captain views this afternoon's visit of Bristol City as the perfect opportunity for the club to re-affirm its promotion credentials.
City, of course, were the side which exposed the frailties that ultimately did for United last term.
United, still under the tutelage of Bryan Robson, slumped to a desperately disappointing defeat at Ashton Gate in October with their performance provoking a furious outburst from the former England captain.
But by April, when today's opponents travelled north to South Yorkshire, United were a team transformed and, with Kevin Blackwell at the helm, two goals from Gary Speed enabled the hosts to gain revenge and thrust themselves firmly into contention for a top six berth.
"We've always had a good team spirit but you need more than that in this competition," Morgan said.
"When we went down there they passed us off the park and we were too disorganised.
"We admitted that to ourselves aftewards because there was no point in hiding.
"But you saw the difference when City came back up here.
"One of the big differences for me is how organised we are now.
"Everyone knows their jobs and what they're supposed to be doing.
"In the Championship, where everyone can beat everyone else, whoever puts together a run of results puts themselves in a really good position. So, for me, if you have a good game-plan and you stick to it then you're going to do well."
Unlike United, City ultimately went on to reach Wembley where, having emerged as one of the surprise packages during the 2007/08 campaign, they were beaten by Hull in a dramatic Champion ship play-off final.
But, with the element of surprise gone, they are finding progress harder to come by this term; recording four wins from their 11 outings so far.
With United gathering momentum after a brief stumble, Morgan predicts they face an even tougher challenge than the one they failed six months ago.
"It's a cliche but we really do want to turn our ground into a fortress," he said.
"People are coming here now knowing that, whatever else happens, they're going to have to fight for everything.
"One of the things i think we do well is that, even though we all know what our jobs are, we're not robotic or predictable either.
"The gaffer likes us to think for ourselves in the right areas of the pitch and, if somebody improvises a bit, then somebody else comes and fills in for them.
What do you think? Post your comments below. READ MORE Blades Watch 08-09 - The Season So FarWatch Premiership highlights, international football, golf, tennis, darts and much moreFootball headlinesMore BladesMore boxingSports columnistsAll sport categories
The full article contains 514 words and appears in Sheffield Star newspaper.