Sheffield United 'a disgrace' against Burnley as Oli McBurnie gets yet more criticism

Alan Shearer branded Sheffield United's players 'a disgrace' and Oli McBurnie's red card deemed 'ridiculous' by Danny Murphy as the Blades unacceptably folded against Burnley on Saturday.

United lost 5-0, going a goal down after just 15 seconds after some half-hearted defending, and a man down just before the break when McBurnie was sent off for picking up two yellow cards for similar reasons.

Against a team also struggling at the bottom, United were expected to battle at Turf Moor but their limp display piled yet more pressure on manager Paul Heckingbottom who will find it difficult to keep his job after this inept performance, such was the reaction from supporters at the full-time whistle.

While Burnley did play reasonably well in picking up their first home win of the season, it was made easy for them by United's shockingly poor defending, lack of creativity and ill-discipline.

"If you've got a team that you're beaten in a game and you've given everything and have the right attitude and you say, 'ok, fair enough' and the fans accept that and the manager accepts that... today, they were a disgrace," said Shearer on Match of the Day.

"From the very first minute we saw they lost three tackles, three tackles within three or four seconds and that sort of summed them up. The manager's said, too many players let them down, in particular when they got the red card."

On the red card, Murphy said McBurnie, who was sent off against Tottenham earlier in the season, was lucky to get away with a yellow in the first instance, after catching Dara O'Shea with his arm when challenging for a throw-in. The former Liverpool player then criticised the Blades striker for doing the same thing again, 10 minutes later.

"It's a ridiculous red really because the first yellow card, he gets away with one, it could easily be a red," said Murphy. "I think Dara O'Shea does him a favour by not rolling all over the pitch and try to take it like a man, if you like. He could have been sent off there.

"He then, after getting that lucky break, decides to lead with his arm again. You are asking for trouble. Your side's 2-0 down, you need everyone to pull together and as the manager's side and I'll just repeat it, some players played their way out."