Sheffield United had to endure another frustrating afternoon in the Championship when they were held to a second draw on the trot by Millwall in a 1-1 stalemate on the weekend which followed a 1-1 draw with Birmingham City in their previous outing.
Sheffield United are once again at Bramall Lane though for Good Friday’s clash with Nottingham Forest in what is a pretty much ‘must-win’ match for The Blades as they now trail their Yorkshire rivals and 2nd placed Leeds United by a significant three point margin ahead of this Easter’s action.
The hosts have lost just once out of their last 14 matches overall in the Championship which was a surprising 3-2 loss at home to Bristol City, but although Chris Wilder’s side have put together a solid set of results, the recent draws with Birmingham City and Ipswich Town have seen The Blades lose ground on the automatic promotion spots - such are the narrow margins at this stage of the season.
United have lost at home on just four occasions and their success so far this season has been built upon a solid defensive unit which has kept a total of 10 clean sheets to date. At the other end, strikers Sharp (23 goals) and McGoldrick (13 goals) have been in impressive goalscoring form.
Nottingham Forest’s slim hopes of grabbing a late spot in the play-off pack seem to have fizzled out as the visitors slumped to a third defeat on the trot in the Championship which has now left Forest eight points adrift of 6th placed Bristol City ahead of the Easter period.
Losses to Rotherham United, Sheffield Wednesday and Blackburn Rovers were all against sides that Nottingham Forest would have fancied taking points against, but instead of pressing their claims for a top six finish, the Tricky Trees are now seemingly doomed to spend another season in the second tier.
With just one win from their last six matches overall, which was a 2-1 home win over Swansea City, Martin O’Neill’s side now look to be marking time instead of coming home with a wet sail, and a poor sequence of 12 away matches without a win underlines Nottingham Forest’s problems at the moment.
Forest have lost six of their last nine away matches (and have drawn the other three), but their resistance looks extremely low and apparently have little to play for as the season draws to a close.
By contrast, Sheffield United must take all three points here and Nottingham Forest look ready for the taking at Bramall Lane.