Cardiff City v Sheffield United: George Baldock's goal sends the visitors top of the Championship

But Paul Heckingbottom’s squad also possess bottle aplenty and, as Cardiff City discovered despite the visitors’ patched-up starting eleven, the nous to plot a course through matches other teams would probably lose. Which is why, thanks to George Baldock’s goal just past the hour mark, they left the Welsh capital on top of the Championship table. Albeit until Burnley and Blackburn Rovers meet tomorrow afternoon.

“For us to be where we are, of course we always want to get better, but credit to the players,” said Heckingbottom. “Even the ones who weren’t involved out there today. They’ve given everything they could and I’m proud of them for that.”

Baldock was responsible for providing the fixture defining touch, after robbing Niels Nkounkou and then threading the ball home from the acutest of acute angles. But it was the introduction of James McAtee which proved to be its defining moment; the England under-21 international, on loan from Manchester City, equipping United with the aggressive, forward thinking mentality which prevented City from exploiting their lack of physicality in midfield.

“He’s got that quality, in that area of the pitch, where we needed it,” Heckingbottom continued. “We know his quality but he was great without the ball too.”

Alarm bells started ringing ahead of kick-off when Heckingbottom, whose squad has been ravaged by injuries all season, named two goalkeepers on a youthful looking bench. They reached a crescendo less than a quarter-of-an-hour into the game when, to the surprise of absolutely no one inside the stadium, yet another name was added to United’s already ridiculously long casualty list; Jack Robinson limping-off after appearing to fall awkwardly following a header.

With Oli McBurnie, John Fleck and Anel Ahmedhodzic ruled-out beforehand - joining the likes of Rhys Norrington-Davies, Rhian Brewster and Sander Berge in the treatment room - United will have been relieved to have introduced someone of Ciaran Clark’s experience. But the on-loan Newcastle defender’s presence could not disguise the fact that Heckingbottom’s options are now down to the bare bones.

“It’s Jack’s hamstring,” confirmed Heckingbottom. “It’s down to fatigue. There’s a lot of illness going around too.”

After a forgettable opening period, a match finally started to break out midway through the first half. Predictably, given their selection issues, it was United who found themselves coming under pressure when maybe Mark Harris, perhaps Ryan Wintle and most definitely Callum Robinson spurned a hat-trick of chances.

The excitement didn’t last long, as the contest quickly descended back into the torpid abyss. Which definitely suited United better than City, who saw Harris round Wes Foderingham but fail to convert just before the interval.

With McAtee replacing full league debutant Oliver Arblaster during the break, United wrestled back the momentum at the beginning of the second period with Clark and Billy Sharp both going close.

It was Baldock, though, who engineered the breakthrough when he seized possession from Nkounkou and then squeezed the ball between Ryan Alsopp and the City goalkeeper’s near post.

“There’s never a better goal than one you score without a pass,” Heckingbottom insisted. “It shows you’ve got that aggression.”

Cardiff City: Allsop, Romeo, Wintle, Ralls © (Whyte 71), O’Dowda, Sang (Rinomhota 77), Kipre, Harris (Colwill 63), Nkounkou (Ojo 71), Ng, C Robinson. Not used: Alnwick, Etete, Nelson.

Sheffield United: Foderingham, Baldock, Stevens, Basham, Egan, J Robinson (Clark 14), Norwood, Osborn, Arblaster (McAtee 46), Ndiaye (Khadra 89), Sharp ©. Not used: Davies, Amissah, Khadra, Brooks, Sachdev.

Referee: M Donohue (Greater Manchester).

MORE: https://www.thestar.co.uk/sport/football/sheffield-united/sheffield-united-cardiff-city-are-now-a-very-different-team-3914205