The Blades, second in the table following there 0-0 home draw with Milton Keynes Dons last Saturday have now gone nine hours without conceding a goal (6 matches); but there match with 'Franchise FC' was somewhat of a bore draw with little much other than a clean sheet to mention.
Blades boss Danny Wilson is expected to name an unchanged side to face Crewe Alexandra tonight, on-loan Southampton forward Jonathan Forte (groin) who has missed recent matches could return from injury whilst Dominic Poleon (on-loan from Leeds United) who made his first start against Leyton Orient will be hoping to retain his place in the squad with Jamie Murphy (groin) doubtful.
Meanwhile, youngster Diego DeGirolamo (knee) is out for the remainder of the season after being injured whilst on international duty with with Italy U-17 squad. Striker Shaun Miller (Crucial Ligaments), formerly with Crewe Alexandra is also sidelined for the season.
Blades boss Danny Wilson told BBC Radio Sheffield; "We fully deserved the win on Saturday (against MK Dons) and we had some terrific bits of play. Some of the decisions from the officials were quite disappointing. I'm confident the goals will come. I think we were just unlucky on Saturday.
"There is a train of thought that it is better to be chasing rather than at the top at this stage. They've done very well this season (Crewe Alexandra) and they've reached the magic 50 points. Steve Davis will be delighted with that."
Crewe Alexandra, fourteenth in the League One table come into this fixture following a 2-1 win at Colchester United last weekend; goals from Luke Murphy (25 minutes (penalty)) and Mathias Progba (72) along with a reply from George Porter (42) for the hosts was enough to secure the victory.
However they have been beaten at home on there last three occasions by both AFC Bournemouth (1-2), Portsmouth (1-2) and their Johnston's Paint Trophy fixture against Coventry City (0-2) after winning the first leg by three goals to nil and will face Southend United in the showcase final at Wembley on 7th April.
The Gresty Road club could welcome back Arsenal loan man Chuks Aneke (groin) who missed last weekends victory due to injury, whilst midfielder Brad Inmann and winger Michael West are still sidelined through injury. Nathan Ellington who recently signed a deal until the end of the season could make his debut after being an unused substitute at Colchester.
Alex boss Steve Davis told BBC Radio Stoke; "We can have a big say [in who wins League One]. Starting with Sheffield United, we've still got five of the top six left to play - and three of them are at home. Generally, our form has been good at home but it's slipped a little bit. We've now got three in a row at home and we know we have to improve.
"We're coming off the back of a good win. That always improves the positivity about the place and it's important to keep the crowd behind us."
:: Head-to-Head ::
Sheffield United an Crewe Alexandra have faced each other in every Football League Division, with of course the exception of top flight status. Our first ever meetings came in the Second Division during the 1892-93 season, at that time there were only two Divisions in English Football and United excelled at the first hurdle, beating the 'Alex' 4-0 in both ties home and away and having played out a Test Match against Accrington and winning 1-0 the Blades were promoted to the top flight - United won a Play-Off Final (at the City Ground, Nottingham Forest) and were the first club in the World to be promoted!
United and Crewe had to wait another 88 years until they met again (1981-82) in the Fourth Division where a similar score-line was played out, United winning 4-0 at Gresty Road and a 3-2 win at Bramall Lane. In the 11 matches played at the Lane our opponents have never tasted victory there once.
| League form versus Crewe Alexandra... | ||||||
| P | W | D | L | F | A | |
| Home | 11 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 24 | 5 |
| Away | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 19 | 12 |
| Total | 21 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 43 | 17 |
* Statistics correct up to and including 26 February 12 March 2013
Blades-Mad Prediction: Crewe Alexandra 0-1 Sheffield United