Ben Osborn suggests what Sheffield United's players must do better to taste success this season

Osborn was speaking after Sunday’s derby-day victory at Barnsley, which saw the Blades almost surrender a seemingly-unassailable 3-0 lead at Oakwell as the beleaguered hosts hit back to 3-2 late on.

Osborn’s third goal, after two earlier Lys Mousset strikes, proved decisive as United returned to winning ways following their midweek disappointment at home to Millwall.

And the former Nottingham Forest man admitted: “It was a pretty mad game, to be fair.

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“The first half was tight and we knew it was going to be like that; we've seen a few of their games this season, and first halves are generally tight.

“We didn't really five them any chances and had a couple of half chances but we thought it'd open up in the second half, and it did.

“A brilliant bit of play from Moose got us off the mark and then we looked really dangerous for 15 minutes and could have scored three or four.

“We ended up with three and after that, we struggled to keep the ball. They scored and we kind of went to pieces, to be honest. We got the three points in the end, but there’s still a bit of learning from that.”

“We put a lot into the game, especially for the first hour or so, and it went end to end,” said Osborn, now United’s joint second-highest goalscorer this season, ahead of this weekend’s home clash with Blackpool.

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“That's when we took our chances, got the lead, and could have had a couple more with the break we had. It might have been fatigue but there's noe xcuse, we need to be solid and keep the ball better to see those games out.

“It should have been comfortable at 3-0 and we looked better when we keep attacking. The Peterborough game [6-2], the Hull game [3-1]. We look better and more dangerous, and I think we've got to back ourselves and believe a bit more.”

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