Boss Joe Royle hailed new loan signing David Unsworth's goalscoring debut for the Blues at Bramall Lane. Unsworth wasn't the only member of the Town backline to get praise from their manager.

However, it was the former Everton man who most pleased Royle: "What a debut for us! I said 'square it' but he hit it - and hit it he did!

"It's nice to talk about the defence for a change. We don't keep a lot of clean sheets and I thought our goalkeeper and back four were all magnificent.

"It's the best we've ever dealt with an aerial bombardment. It's never easy coming here. There's a real intimidating atmosphere.

Despite the win, Royle felt his side never got their passing going: "We haven't passed the ball but we got the points, so who cares? We've certainly played an awful lot better and our goalkeeper made two terrific saves to keep us in front."

Debutant Unsworth was pleased to have scored but felt the win was a bigger prize: "It was nice to get the goal but the most important thing was the three points.

"I made the forward run and was looking to make the cut-back to Benty. Their defenders surrounded him so I just kept going and it opened up for me.

"It was great to see the goal go in - a fantastic start for me - but that was a bonus to the result, which is all that matters.

"With Wigan losing as well, it's been a terrific day for us, going five points clear, but we didn't play particularly well.

"The boss wasn't happy with the performance at half-time and rightly so, but it's a big win for us.

"It's not an easy place to come and get a result and we were forced to defend, but we kept a clean sheet and have to be pleased with that."

Blades' boss Neil Warnock was particularly impressed with Kelvin Davis's display: "I'm not too disappointed really. I thought we played well today.

"Apart from a world-class goalkeeping display, the best I've seen for many years, we would've got something from the game. He had no right to get to Tongey's effort.

"We've played against a good side. They're a good side because they beat us 2-0 and they haven't played very well."

Warnock was convinced that Shefki Kuqi's goal was offside: "I asked the linesman if he thought he had a good game and he said he thought he'd done very well, and I said: 'That's what concerns me.'"

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