Coventry City v Sheffield United: Defeat and another injury make it a miserable night for Paul Heckingbottom's side
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Paul Heckingbottom’s side saw Oliver Norwood and Oli McBurnie both strike the woodwork before Martyn Waghorn’s late penalty condemned them to the third defeat of a now five match winless run.
But the most significant moment of this fractious affair, which ended with the visitors’ failing to regain their place in the automatic promotion places, came right at the start of a night when a game often threatened to break out without ever quite managing to do so.
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Hide AdHaving tumbled to the turf after turning on the afterburners as he charged upfield, Norrington-Davies was clearly in agony as medics helped him back to the dressing room. The tweet which later began circulating on social media, suggesting that being a left sided defender for United is now one of the most dangerous jobs on the planet, was published only partly in jest.
United’s injury list, not to put too fine a point on it, is utterly ridiculous, with the likes of Max Lowe, Ciaran Clark and Enda Stevens among the army of influential players vying for space on the treatment table. Heckingbottom could pick a pretty handy starting eleven from those currently unavailable for selection; Wes Foderingham also missing out through suspension. But even though United have been running on fumes of late, entering this fixture without a win since the international break, they still kicked-off third in the Championship table. And, after Heckingbottom had teased his return on the eve of the game, with John Fleck in tow following his recovery from a broken leg.
Predictably, typically, the novelty of not losing a key performer to injury quickly wore-off. The contest had barely started when, having surged towards the City penalty area, Norrington-Davies went down clutching his leg.
While Heckingbottom was attempting to make sense of the situation - shaking his head in dismay during a conflab on the bench - the momentum began to swing towards United’s opponents. Not decisively, with Foderingham’s deputy - debutant Adam Davies - enjoying a quiet time until denying Gustavo Palmer midway through the second period. But enough, with United seizing it back after the interval, to test the faultlines in a rearguard which has borne the brunt of the fitness crisis which surely now warrants a major investigation behind the scenes at Bramall Lane.
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Hide AdFor the most part, however, this was pretty tepid fayre with any flashes of promise quickly disappearing into the chilly Warwickshire air.
It took two challenges, first from Norrington-Davies’ replacement James McAtee and then Ben Sheaf, to bring what was threatening to become a forgettable clash back from the abyss. McAtee was cautioned for clattering into Fankaty Dabo in front of the technical area. City’s fans were still screaming for a red when Sheaf was also booked for preventing Iliman Ndiaye from launching an attack.
Norwood and McBurnie both came within inches of giving United the lead but, just as they appeared destined to break the deadlock, Chris Basham felled Viktor Gyokeres and Keith Stroud awarded a spot-kick.
