Coventry City manager namechecks Sheffield United stars as "the difference" in Blades' key victory

Paul Heckingbottom's side moved eight points clear of third-placed Blackburn Rovers after goals from James McAtee, Ciaran Clark and Tommy Doyle - plus Wes Foderingham's save from Viktor Gyokeres' penalty - helped the Blades to another big victory in their pursuit of promotion.

United have now won all three of their games since the Championship season resumed, banishing any fears that the World Cup break would halt their momentum as they look to recover their Premier League place that they surrendered early last year.

And Robins said: "I think their goal was a turning point. Up until that point I thought we were the better team and controlled it generally. We played a top team with really good players.

"They were on the back foot and looked nervy and rightly so. We're a good team. We're better than the goal we conceded. They countered on us from our own corner which doesn't generally happen and the way they broke with the quality they have is really quick.

"McAtee's a top player, I thought him and Iliman Ndiaye were a difference in this game. We were well in the game but the second goes in from a set-play and it's poor. It's an outstanding ball.

"We missed the penalty, the 'keeper made a save and we didn't adjust quickly enough with our mentality. We dwelled on that too long but we were in it. Then the third goal, I didn't see it until it came across the box because I was trying to make a change but it was a really poor goal as well.

"They've got the quality to finish it off. But even then heads didn't go down, we had numerous chances really. We tried to put them under pressure but ran out of time. I have no issues with the performance in general but the goals we conceded were not like us. But we were playing against a top side expected to go up."