Sheffield United look to avoid post-holiday hangover against Brighton and Hove Albion after Dubai trip

United flew to the United Arab Emirates during their winter break, which came after their 2-1 victory over AFC Bournemouth in their last outing at Bramall Lane.

Basham and Co. are back on home soil this weekend to face Graham Potter's Seagulls, who are 15th in the table and three points above the relegation zone.

United, in contrast, will go into the game with loftier ambitions in mind. They are sixth in the table, just a point behind Tottenham Hotspur, who hold the final Champions League place as things stand after Manchester City's two-year European ban was handed down by UEFA last week.

New signings Sander Berge, Richairo Živković and Panagiotis Retsos joined Chris Wilder and his players and staff in Dubai and Basham said: "All the new lads are bedding in well. The lads loved the trip and were all enthusiastic about it.

"The winter break is important for us as footballers so it's been nice to have a break and relax a little.

"Then we went back to the Sheffield United way with a really hard training session.

"We had a little weekend with our families when we got back but now it's back in training, plugging away in the lead up to Brighton. Hopefully we can get a result in that one."

United dropped to sixth in the table after Spurs’ late winner at Aston Villa on Sunday.