Sheffield United will face a fresh Blackburn Rovers but that's not how boss wanted it

Fresh from an impressive 4-0 win over Swansea City at Bramall Lane on Saturday, taking the Blades’ unbeaten run to eight matches, United turn their attention now to Blackburn Rovers, again at home, on Wednesday night.

Rovers have been arguably the surprise package of the season, currently sitting in third position in the Championship and still in contention for one of the automatic promotion places, despite being four points behind second-placed Bournemouth and having played two games more.

But while the Blades were turning over Russell Martin’s men on Saturday on a day when they picked up another injury concern with George Baldock having to undergo a scan, Rovers ended up with a blank weekend.

Tony Mowbray’s side were due to host Millwall but Storm Eunice put paid to that, with the referee, Geoff Eltringham, making the late decision to deem the snow-topped Ewood Park pitch unplayable.

However, despite the frantic schedule that many clubs are facing at present due to the number of matches being postponed at the turn of the year due to Covid, Mowbray admitted that he would have much preferred the clash with the Lions to have gone ahead.

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“Myself and [Millwall manager] Gary Rowett were in the office with the referee and both wanted to play the match but you have to respect the officials,” Mowbray told the Lancashire Telegraph.

“I think he made his decision with a lot of thought, he took an hour to see what it looked like, we have to respect the decision and his responsibility which is for the safety and welfare of the footballers.

“He felt it was unsafe and we have to abide by that.”

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Mowbray added: “The decision is made, as I’ve said to the players in the dressing room, it was a day where we wanted to put a lot of pressure on the teams around us, what a chance to put three points on the board.

“We have to accept it, the game will be played. We have to win football matches whether that was today or a few weeks down the line, that game will be played, everyone will play 46 matches and we’ll see how many points everyone has and where they end up.

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