Sheffield United star sets teammates a target which will underpin bid for Premier League return

Five of United’s remaining eight games after the international break are at Bramall Lane, where they are unbeaten since October – a consistent run which has underpinned their late surge for the play-offs.

With their season seemingly dead and buried, Paul Heckingbottom’s men have reignited their hopes of an instant return to the Premier League with a remarkable run of form which saw them enter the latest international break fifth in the Championship table.

Two of their remaining eight games are against fellow play-off hopefuls QPR, while current top-two Bournemouth and Fulham are also set to visit Bramall Lane before the end of the campaign.

Remembering Deano's remarkable lob for Blades v Liverpool, on this day in 1992

“The division is so unpredictable but we’ve found a consistency,” Norwood, looking for his fourth successive promotion from the Championship after reaching the Premier League with Brighton, Fulham and then the Blades, said.

“Especially at home, and five of our last eight are at Bramall Lane. So we’ll be looking to pick up maximum points at home and see where that takes us.”

Norwood, speaking to the BBC’s Football Daily podcast, was one of the Blades players given much-needed time away from training after a relentless fixture schedule before the international break.

“We haven’t been beaten at home since October so we’ve made that a real difficult place for teams to come now,” the former Northern Ireland international added.

Where United and fellow promotion hopefuls finish in predicted Championship table

“Home form, especially in the Championship, is vital and we’ve made it a real fortress. We’ve turned it back into that nasty, horrible place that people won’t be looking forward to coming to.”

United, who beat their manager’s boyhood club Barnsley in their last game before the international break, return to Championship action this weekend when they travel to Stoke City.

Filip Uremović, who signed for the Blades last week after his contract with Russian side Rubin Kazan was suspended, will travel with his new teammates but Ismaila Coulibaly, who trained with United over the international break, will see out the season in Belgium with United’s sister club Beerschot.

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