Match views . . . Sheffield United

Stephen Robinson

STEPHEN Robinson was pleased with his side's effort at Bramall Lane and felt the only difference between the sides was two-goal marksman Billy Sharp:

"A lot of teams come here, sit back and wait to get beaten but we didn't do that at all. For the first 70 minutes, you couldn't tell they were near the top of the table while we were bottom.

"The result was the same as last week, but our performance was very, very different. We were positive and created chances. The second goal was a foul and watching it back again, it was an embarrassing decision.

"We are very disappointed to have lost, but at least the performance was there.

"The difference between the two teams is Billy Sharp. If we had Billy in our team, we would have won the game. Ryan Flynn forced a save and Freddie Ladapo had a shot while Billy Mckay had a chance he snatched at.

"That's the difference at this level - they are able to put players like that in and we are not, at this moment in time.

"We didn't feel under threat until we went 1-0 down, when we chased the game which we had to do.

'CREATED CHANCES'

"Then they created chances, of course, on the break. At 0-0 we were creating the best chances, setting up to hit them on the break with pace with the two boys out wide Cameron Dummigan and Ryan McLaughlin.

"We are a goal scorer away from being a half-decent side. But the table doesn't lie and we are there for a reason."

BLADES manager Chris Wilder also felt Athletic had improved, but said he could see the opening goal coming for his side:
"A little bit of quality was missing and the introduction of Leon Clarke gave us a target to play off. He made a big difference.

"People will look at it and say he hasn't scored, but he was key to our second-half performance.

"There was a period before we scored where I felt it would happen and when Billy did score, it wasn't a surprise to me.

"It was a tough first half and credit to the opposition as they won more first and second balls and turned it into a scrappy game, which suited them.

"Sometimes you have first halves where it is a but scrappy. We have to overcome opponents bringing their best game to us and we did that. I'm delighted with the result."