Crystal Palace head into this fixture on back of a 1-0 win over mid-table counterparts Derby County two weeks ago; Victor Moses was shown his marching orders after two book able offences on the hour mark and three minutes later, despite being down to ten men the Eagles took the lead via former Sheffield Wednesday striker Shefki Kuq who lobbed a stranded Stephen Bywater.
In a bizarre twist of unfortunate, Sky Sports News announced with five minutes remaining that Emanuel Villa had snatched an equaliser, heading home but was ruled offside despite the televisions announcement.
They succumbed to a 2-0 defeat last weekend at Doncaster Rovers - Dean Shiels and James Hayter supplying the goals which beat Palace.
The Eagles however will be without defender Claude Davis whom serves the last of a three match suspension. An alleged elbow on Roger Johnson (Cardiff City) went unnoticed by the match officials and later was proved guilty by the Football Association and handed a three match suspension. He also missed the fixtures against Derby County and Doncaster Rovers.
And, following his sending off against the Rams Victor Mosses will have been suspended for one match only and should have served his suspension against Doncaster Rovers at the Keepmoat Stadium last weekend. He will though be able to feature against the Blades at Selhurst P
Their manager; Neil Warnock is no stranger to Sheffield United fans after he was manager of the club from December 1999 to May 2006. He succeeded Adrian Heath after being boss at Bury and sustaining the Bramall Lane club into a comfortable 10th place after being in the bottom three at point of appointment.
During his time he guided United to the Semi-Finals of the League and FA Cup, only to lose out to Liverpool (3-2 aggregate) and Arsenal (1-0) respectively during the 2002/03 season - whilst in the same campaign lost 3-0 to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Play-Off Final at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.
He gained success when the Blades won promotion to the Premier League (2005/06), completing the double over rivals Sheffield Wednesday (1-0 & 2-1) along the way but United were relegated from the top flight at first attempt with Warnock resigning. In all he was manager of the club for 388 competitive fixtures were he won 165 and lost 123 (drew 100) of those.
The former Huddersfield Town boss would also be able to field four other former players; Claude Davis, Shaun Derry, Paul Ifill and Anthony Stokes.
Davis, 30 cost the Blades £2,500,000 and at the time was the Blades record transfer paid until James Beattie (£4M), he was signed from Preston North End in July 2006 but only stayed for one season at the Lane after they were relegated from the Premier League.
The Jamaican international made his debut in a League Cup fixture against Bury (won 1-0) and went onto make 19 (+3) appearances for the club until making a move top Derby County in July 2007. He is currently on loan to Palace from the Pride Park club.
Derry, 31 joined the Blades from Notts County in a £700,000 transfer deal in January 1998 by Nigel Spackman - making his debut days later in a 1-1 home draw with Huddersfield Town, he left United in March 2000 to join Portsmouth having made 73 (+10) starts for United and scored just once in an FA Cup tie.
Ifill, 29 made his debut for the Blades in a 4-1 home win over Leicester City where he headed United into a 3-1 lead; he had been signed in the summer of 2005 from Millwall for £800,000 and helped guide the Blades to promotion via an automatic spot, netting nine goals along the way.
However he never quite managed to give the Premier League that extra sparkle which he so promised whilst in the Championship and soon left the Blades to join Crystal Palace, making a £750,000 move in January 2006. He made a total of 34 (+11) appearances for the Blades and scored nine goals.
Stokes, 20 was part of the Blades squad this season after arriving from Sunderland on loan; joining in October 2008 and returning to the Stadium of Light in January 2009. He made his debut as a substitute in a one-nil defeat at Sheffield Wednesday and made just 5 (+7) starts whilst at Bramall Lane.
Possible Eagles Line-Up: Julian Speroni, Patrick McCarthy, Nathaniel Clyne, Johannes Ertl, Matt Lawrence, Clint Hill, Victor Mosses, Nick Carle, Rui Fonte, Shefki Kuqi, Anthony Stokes.
Sheffield United will no doubt be planning a raid on Selhurst Park as they bid for automatic promotion; they have only ever won their eight times (nine wins for Palace) out of 22 meetings at their London home.
United head into this game on back of a 1-0 home win over Swansea City; David Cotterill slipped home the spot kick after Stephen Quinn was bundled down in the box; however the result wasn't a true reflection on the Blades performance.
Chris Morgan and Matthew Kilgallon were strong at the back, keeping 21 goal man Jason Scotland out of the game whilst at Right-Back Kyle Walker had a great league debut. Prior to the Blades goal Kilgallon had launched a ball into the box which Jamie Ward volleyed home but was ruled offside.
In the second half the home side had further chances to extend there lead but City keeper Dorus de Vries kept them at bay with stunning saves which denied Darius Henderson (twice) and Danny Webber when a goal looked likely.
In this seasons earlier encounter on 20 December, the pair recorded a 2-2 draw in front of the Sky camera's; though United do doubt felt that three points should have been theirs, all be it for lack lusted defending. The Blades took the lead shortly before half-time when a bad back pass fell to on-loan Nathan Dyer whom fired the ball home.
The score was level though two minutes after the break when a mistake by Chris Morgan allowed Paddy McCarthy to take full advantage and level the score. All three points looked on the cards when two minutes towards the end the Blades won a penalty and the reliable Beattie fired home; but sloppy defending allowed Nick Carle to level the score from close range.
Sheffield United welcome back Brian Howard for squad selection; having picked up his tenth booking of the season in our Good Friday victory over Reading he was forced to serve a two match suspension and was absent for the Championship fixtures against Burnley (0-1) and Swansea City (1-0).
However they will be without defender Gary Naysmith (knee) for this crucial match in London, the Scottish international limped off early in the Blades 1-0 defeat at Burnley two games ago and will be out injured. Her is likely to be once again replaced by Kyle Naughton at left-back whilst Kyle Walker will take the right-back position.
Blades boss Kevin Blackwell could field former Palace loan striker Craig Beattie, he was on loan to the Selhurst Park club this season between September and December 2008. He played 15 times and scored on five occasions. He had scored on his home debut in a 1-0 win over Charlton Athletic.
Possible Blades Line-Up: Paddy Kenny, Kyle Walker, Chris Morgan, Matthew Kilgallon, Kyle Naughton, David Cotterill, Nick Montgomery, Stephen Quinn, Greg Halford, Darius Henderson, Jamie Ward.
:: Match Officials ::
Referee: Chris Foy (Merseyside)
Assistants: R. Pollock & A. Butler
Fourth Official: K. Friend
- 14.03.1998 - Blades 4-0 Reading
- 26.12.1998 - Birmingham 1-0 Blades
- 03.04.1999 - Barnsley 2-1 Blades
- 28.08.1999 - Blades 2-2 Ipswich Town
- 30.09.2000 - Blades 1-1 QPR
- 18.08.2001 - Blades 0-0 Gillingham
- 09.11.2001 - MK Dons 1-1 Blades
- 19.01.2002 - Blades 0-0 Forest
- 28.09.2002 - Blades 1-2 Watford
- 23.08.2003 - Blades 1-0 Norwich City
- 20.08.2004 - Preston NE 0-1 Blades
- 15.04.2005 - Blades 0-1 Derby County
- 29.10.2005 - Blades 0-0 Cardiff City
- 01.01.2007 - Middlesbrough 3-1 Blades
- 17.03.2007 - Chelsea 3-0 Blades
- 17.02.2008 - Blades 0-0 Middlesbrough (FAC)
- 13.09.2008 - Derby County 2-1 Blades