Can Sheffield United take heart from cup win 30 years ago as they look to turn their season around?

But Sheffield United have been here before, seemingly marooned from survival after a disastrous few first months of the season put them behind the eight-ball in the quest to retain their top-flight status.

For 2020/21, see 1990/91 and although the differences between Premier League football now and what was Division One 30 years ago are vast, there are certai similarities too.

Both teams were assembled relatively inexpensively, battling the odds with a forward-thinking, legendary manager at the helm.

And Chris Wilder, a member of that Dave Bassett squad that pulled off a remarkable escape act to finish 13th, will remember as well as anyone how a cup victory over lower-division opponents laid the foundations for a first league win of the season in their next home game, three days before Christmas.

United pasted Oldham Athletic 7-2 in the Zenith Data Systems Cup back then, despite going 2-0 down. Next up for Wilder's men is a trip to Bristol Rovers in the FA Cup this weekend and even if a similar scoreline is unlikely, a repeat of the outcome will be a very welcome one indeed as the manager searches for a way to turn his side's season around.

While FA Cup third round weekend is traditionally a chance for managers to rotate their squads and rest key men, the temptation must surely be there for Wilder to go the other way.

Aaron Ramsdale is still looking for a first clean sheet of the season, more a product of being left woefully exposed than any fault of his own.

Rhian Brewster is still searching for a first goal in United goals since his club-record move from Liverpool. Poor Oliver Burke hasn't started a game that his side won on English soil since August 2018 and there are players searching for form all the way through United's squad.

Beating Rovers, who are battling relegation from League One, will be far from the shock of the round, but losing could be catastrophic for United's already-brittle confidence. A decent performance and the result, getting back that winning feeling that United have become so accustomed to over the years, might prove something of a turning point. After all, the club has been here before...