Sheffield United had made the national newspapers again the previous season after beating off Premier League sides West Ham United and Southampton to reach the Semi-Final of the League Cup for only the clubs' second time in its history. They didn't quite go all the way, losing dramatically 3-2 on aggregate to Tottenham Hotspur. After scraping through against Morecambe in Round One the 2015/16 tournament would not end in such a fairy tale.
Concentrating on league matters, boss Nigel Adkins made ten wholesale changes to the one which had beaten Blackpool the previous Saturday. Only James Wallace remain. A double sending off for Baxter and Freeman reduced the Blades to nine men, Ross McCormack had given the hosts a 2-0 lead and Dembele added a third as the full-time whistle drew to a close.
Che Adams put pen to paper on a contract extension, keeping at the club until at least the closure of the 2017/18 season. United then rounded the month off with their fourth consecutive league victory at Swindon Town, Collins and Sharp were both on target at the County Ground.
Picture: Jose Baxter - sent-off at Fulham.
Fulham 3-0 Sheffield United
Tuesday, 25th August 2015 - League Cup Round 2
Sheffield United have made a decent start to the new league season despite an opening day defeat. United lay 4th in the table after two goals without reply were enough to beat Blackpool last weekend. In midweek however, the Blades were knocked out of the Carling Cup by Fulham in a 3-0 reverse.
Ross McCormack netted twice for Fulham and Moussa Dembele added another in the second half as they comfortably disposed of nine-man Sheffield United 3-0 in their Capital One Cup second round clash at Craven Cottage. The visitors made 10 changes from the side that overcame Blackpool over the weekend, with captain James Wallace the sole survivor, while their Championship opponents kept eight of the same 11 that started against Huddersfield.
Former Millwall midfielder Martyn Woolford almost opened the scoring for the League One side on four minutes, when his shot from the edge of the box forced goalkeeper Andrew Lonergan into a low save to his left. Fulham were able to get a foothold in the game, and Ryan Tunnicliffe hit the crossbar after 12 minutes, following a square pass from Lasse Vigen Christensen. Both teams appeared keen to test their opposing goalkeepers with efforts from outside the box, both Marc McNulty for the visitors and Christensen for Fulham testing Lonergan and George Long respectively.
Dembele came close for the Cottagers on 25 minutes when he latched onto a pass from Kay Voser, but pulled his shot from the left hand side wide of the far post. Chances for both sides became more sporadic, with Fulham having the better of possession but their visitors holding firm. Captain McCormack carved out the first chance of the second half, with a shot from the edge of the area that was a routine collection by Long.
Fulham were dominating possession more and more, and were testing Sheffield United with their pace. The Blades were finally undone when McCormack was tugged back after attempting a 62nd minute bicycle kick by Craig Alcock - the captain made no mistake with the resultant spot kick, sending Long the wrong way. The goal appeared to lift the home side, who pressed for a second goal to effectively end the tie, although Dembele was guilty of two wild shots on 67 and 70 minutes.
It was left to McCormack to finally extinguish any hopes of United progressing in the competition, when with 15 minutes of the game remaining, he was able to drive from just inside the right-hand side of the penalty box low past the outstretched arms of Long. A 77th-minute bullet header from Dembele was saved by the outstretched hand of the visiting goalkeeper. Sheffield United were reduced to nine men late on, with Jose Baxter dismissed with two minutes remaining for a lunge on Tom Cairney, and Kieran Wallace after a professional foul on Dembele in injury time. Frenchman Dembele was rewarded with a goal right on the final whistle with a fierce low shot from 20 yards out.
Swindon Town 0-2 Sheffield United
Saturday, 29th August 2015 - League One
Second-half goals from Neill Collins and Billy Sharp helped Sheffield United to a 2-0 victory against Swindon at the County Ground. Collins headed in a corner in the 70th minute and Sharp added a second for the visitors five minutes later, as the Blades ended a winless streak in Wiltshire stretching back more than 20 years. It was far from a comfortable afternoon for United, however, who had to work hard against a Swindon side who played with pace and flair without often testing Mark Howard.
Swindon controlled possession for much of the first half but the Blades went closest to scoring before the interval, with Conor Sammon firing against the crossbar from eight yards out in the 23rd minute. After the break, neither goalkeeper was asked to make a meaningful save until Collins popped up with 20 minutes left to head past Lawrence Vigouroux, thanks to a slight deflection off a Swindon player. With the home side pushing for an equaliser, Sharp was afforded plenty of space to pick his spot and seal victory for the Blades moments later.