Sheffield United: "They're very good," admits beaten Cardiff City boss

Describing Paul Heckingbottom’s men as “very good, obviously,” having seen them leave the Welsh capital on top of the Championship, the former Huddersfield Town defender nevertheless felt the hosts would have prevailed had they made more of the chances they created.

Mark Harris and former United forward Callum Robinson were both guilty of wasting excellent openings before the interval before George Baldock scored the only goal of the contest during the second-half.

“We were dominant in the first half, we had opportunities but we didn’t take them,” lamented Hudson, before admitting: “That’s something we’ve spoken about in the past.”

Although City were never in control as much as Hudson insisted, they did win the opening period on points. But the introduction of James McAtee for the start of the second helped swing the match in the visitors’ favour, with Baldock firing home after robbing Niels Nkounkou of the ball and then threading it between Ryan Allsop and the near post.

Although United will not enter the World Cup break in first, with fellow high-flyers Burnley and Blackburn Rovers meeting today, the result means they have now won four of their last five outings despite a debilitating casualty list. With Anel Ahmedhodzic, John Fleck and Oli McBurnie ruled-out ahead of kick-off, joining the likes of Sander Berge, Rhys Norrington-Davies, Tommy Doyle and Rhian Brewster on the treatment table, United saw defender Jack Robinson forced-off with a hamstring complaint during the opening exchanges.