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Sun shines on dark month for Blades
KEVIN Blackwell is confident that Sheffield United will end their "month of complacency" on a positive note.
Having confirmed their return to form following a run of five games without a win by beating Doncaster Rovers on Tuesday, Blackwell's squad entertain Bristol City tomorrow looking to secure a hat-trick of victories.
September was threatening to be very black indeed until Watford, tipped at the start of the campaign to be among United's main challengers for one of the Championship's three promotion berths, were dispatched 2-1 last weekend.
Admitting both coaching staff and players alike had "possibly started to believe our own publiclity", the scoreline marked an end to a disappointing run of form which had threatened to overshadow the almost unblemished sequence of success Blackwell had enjoyed since his appointment in February.
"We'd done so well and maybe we thought we cracked it," Blackwell said. "But you're always going to have a blip at some stage.
"It's impossible to go on for so long without one.
"But I knew on the Friday that we'd beat Watford.
"I thanked the lads immediately after we finished training because
they'd really put in a shift.
"Things hadn't been going as we'd have liked but they're an honest
bunch of lads here and they've shown they've still got that hunger."
City were the division's surprise packages last term, reaching the play-off final at Wembley just 12 months after clawing themselves out of League One.
Their rapid acclimatisation to life in England's second tier, Blackwell predicts, means there is no chance of United taking anything for granted during their final fixture before the international break.
"There's no reason why they'd can't do it again," Blackwell continued. "But, I think even Gary (Johnson), their manager, will tell you that it's harder to do it the second time around.
"They've shown they're not afraid to spend money and they've brought some good players in.
"But everyone's aware of them and what they can do now."
Blackwell hopes to delve into his own transfer fund before kick-off as United continue their attempts to secure Brian Howard's release from Barnsley.
Defender Sun Jihai returns after completing a four-match suspension but Greg Halford is a major doubt after being diagnosed with strained knee ligaments.
Blackwell had been hopeful the Sunderland loanee would be available for selection despite receiving eight stitches in a shin wound during the closing stages of the South Yorkhire derby at the Keepmoat Stadium but the United manager admitted: "It's a little bit more serious than we first thought."
James Beattie, who opened his account this term against Watford, is also a concern after suffering a dead-leg but David Cotterill and Nathan Dyer could come into contention if Blackwell suspects City could be vulnerable along the flanks.
"Sun is back so that's a good thing," Blackwell said. "Beatts should be okay.
"We lost five quality players all at once because of injury or because they left recently and that might have affected us a little bit too.
"But we're getting that competitive edge back again. That's the way I want it.
"If people now don't perform then they might not get back in for a while."
KOP THAT: BLADES RAISE THE STAKES
see the Green'Un newspaper, available from Saturday night for the full story
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Weather for Sheffield
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 11 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: East
