Sheffield United 2 Stoke City 1: Subs make the difference as David McGoldrick puts Blades ahead after Lys Mousset's equaliser

Sheffield United will look to recover from back-to-back defeats before the international break this afternoon when they host Stoke City at Bramall Lane.
Nick Powell of Stoke City and John Fleck of Sheffield United battle for the ball (Nigel Roddis/Getty Images)Nick Powell of Stoke City and John Fleck of Sheffield United battle for the ball (Nigel Roddis/Getty Images)
Nick Powell of Stoke City and John Fleck of Sheffield United battle for the ball (Nigel Roddis/Getty Images)

City travel to South Yorkshire fourth in the division and full of confidence after beating West Brom last time out, while the Blades are reeling from losses to Middlesbrough and Bournemouth.

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Blades v Stoke LIVE from the Lane

SJ on the substitutions

We found important participation from the bench. We tried to be a little more calm and find more energy in the midfield, where we were a little bit without energy and power, and the substitutions were successful. I don’t have the sensation that I made mistakes in selecting my team.

SJ on his side’s mindset

Psychologically we are not especially at a high level. It’s a hard period behind us, a lot of the time we didn’t trust enough in ourselves and it can be an important boost for us against one of the best teams in the Championship. I hope we will find the benefit and still be better in the games ahead.

Jokanovic continued

“It’s massive for us,” Jokanović, whose side return to Bramall Lane on Tuesday evening to face Millwall, added.

“We didn’t deserve to lose in the last game against Bournemouth and with energy and trust we moved the game in the right direction. We had a flat 10 minutes after they scored and didn’t know exactly what we were doing on the field.

“It’s a huge victory and a boost for our confidence and reward for our work and trust in the direction.”

Slavisa Jokanovic’s reaction to Stoke win

“I am delighted. We are really pleased with how we played and won the game. How the subs collaborated from the bench, too.

“We played for 85 per cent of the game well and had some flat moments after their goal, we need to improve in this side of the game. We need to not be depressed after this kind of situation.

“We played with enough brain, we moved the ball and tried to find the spaces. We tried be patient and combine, and we found the way to win the game at the end.”

When you’re away from home it’s always more difficult, the home side got their tails up. The goal lifted them massively and the crowd react to that, you can see the confidence grow. You have to be more resolute. We felt we could go on and score the second goal but ultimately they scored as we were about to make the changes, so that didn’t help our plans. We felt we could still win the game but unfortunately, we lost it.

The lesson for us if we don’t score that second goal, the opposition are still in the game. Their first goal, we overcommit two or three times and it made it easier for the attacker with his decisions. The second happens when we’re down to 10 men but we still had enough behind the ball, we have to do better to stop the cross and it was a disappointing goal to lose to.

Michael O’Neill’s reaction

Disappointed obviously, the first half was pretty even and they made it difficult for us at times. We struggled with that and we asked for a reaction at half time, and got that for the first 25 minutes of the second half. We were in control but the game changed with the substitutions. We’re disappointed with the goals but we have to accept it and go again.

and the Blades run out winners after making pretty hard work of that at times - an amazing intervention from David McGoldrick to come off the bench and score and assist to turn the game around. A word for Mousset too - that was a welcome goal for both team and player after his recent struggles. An engaging game between two good teams, that, and McGoldrick gets a deserved ovation from the Kop as he leads his teammates on a post-match lap of honour

and the Blades have come from behind to lead as McGoldrick steals into a good position inside the box and touches home in front of the Kop - what an impact from the striker, a goal and an assist within minutes of coming on to turn this game on its head completely!

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