The Blades already have the upper hand after claiming victory at Bramall Lane early this season when on Friday 18th September they carved out 3-2 victory in front of the Sky cameras; United stormed into a dream start, going into the break with a three-nil advantage after Jamie Ward (7 minutes) slotted home from the corner whilst Ched Evans saw his shot cannon off Darius Henderson (15) to give a quick-fire two goal lead.
With three minutes to go before the break David Cotterill launched a deep cross onto the far post where Wednesday defender Lewis Buxton woefully attempted to head out for a corner, only to slam the ball into the top corner with keeper Lee Grant stranded.
After the break the Owls hit back and had pulled a goal back with a few minutes of the re-start; Marcus Tudgay (46) capitalized on a poor clearance; a cross into the box eventually hooked away by Kyle Walker but fell to the former Derby striker on the edge of the box where his sweet strike found the bottom corner; and on 66th minute Etienne Esajas fired the ball home from a long range free-kick to draw the scores even closer but United hung on to claim the historic victory.
The Blades come into this fixture on back of a home tie against Coventry City last Saturday; the Blades won 1-0 when only a few minutes after the break great work from Glen Little slipped the ball into the path of Richard Cresswell who beat the keeper from
fourteen yards.
United will once again be without suspended keeper Paddy Kenny who sit out the last of his 44 league match suspension, he will be made available for selection against Swansea City next weekend. The shot stopper has made 310 appearances for the Blades since his £42,500 move from Bury in July 2002.
Keeper Steve Simonsen has served his 28 day loan would have returned to his parent club Stoke City, but a deal has been struck to take him and Paul Connolly (Derby County) on loan for a further week.
Blades boss Kevin Blackwell will be without Ched Evans (broken collarbone), Toni Kallio (hamstring), Jordan Stewart (knee), Henri Camara (groin) and Ryan France (leg) are all ruled out through injury. Meanwhile defenders Derek Geary (ankle) and Gary Naysmith (hamstring) look to have shaken off their injuries and could feature in the Steel City Derby this Sunday.
Blades boss Kevin Blackwell is likely to field former Owls striker Richard Cresswell against his former club, whilst defender Derek Geary is also on the Blades books.
Cresswell signed for the S6 outfit from York City in a deal worth £950,000 in March 1999 and made his debut in a 2-1 home defeat to Coventry City. The following season the Owls were relegated from the Premier League and Cressie moved on; joining Leicester City in September 2000 after 8 (+28) appearances and three goals with the Hillsborough club.
Geary came through the youth ranks at Hillsborough, signing a professional contract in November 1997 - however he didn't get his first chance to feature in a match until October 1999 when he played in a 3-1 League Cup win at Oldham Athletic. He made 116 (+11) appearances for the Owls before completing a free transfer to Stockport County in July 2004.
Blades Last Line-Up (10/04/2010 vs. Coventry City): Steve
Simonsen, Paul Connolly, Chris Morgan, Nyron Nosworthy, Andy Taylor, Glen Little, Nick Montgomery, James Harper, Stephen Quinn, Darius Henderson, Richard Cresswell. Substitutes: Gary Naysmith, Mark Yeates, Lee Williamson, Ian Bennett, Marcel Seip, Kyle Bartley, Derek Geary.
Blades Possible Line-Up:
bennett | |||
connolly | Morgan (c) | nosworthy | taylor |
yeates | Montgomery | williamson | quinn |
cresswell | henderson | ||
Blades-Mad Prediction: Sheffield Wednesday 0-1 Sheffield United
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:: Statistics ::
For Head to Head statistics please click here.
Last 10 Games... Home & Away
Season | Date | Home | Score | Away | Competition |
2009/2010 | Fri 18 Sep | Sheff Utd | Sheff Wed | Championship | |
2008/2009 | Sat 07 Feb | Sheff. Utd. | Sheff. Wed. | Championship | |
Sun 19 Oct | Sheff. Wed. | Sheff. Utd. | Championship | ||
2007/2008 | Tue 08 Apr | Sheff. Utd. | Sheff. Wed. | Championship | |
Sat 19 Jan | Sheff. Wed. | Sheff. Utd. | Championship | ||
2005/2006 | Sat 18 Feb | Sheff. Wed. | Sheff. Utd. | Championship | |
Sat 03 Dec | Sheff. Utd. | Sheff. Wed. | Championship | ||
2002/2003 | Fri 17 Jan | Sheff. Utd. | Sheff. Wed. | League Division One | |
Sun 01 Sep | Sheff. Wed. | Sheff. Utd. | League Division One | ||
2001/2002 | Tue 29 Jan | Sheff. Utd. | Sheff. Wed. | League Division One | |
Sun 07 Oct | Sheff. Wed. | 0 - 0 | Sheff. Utd. | League Division One |
Head to Head Statistics... | Goals | |||||
Venue | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against |
Home | 62 | 27 | 22 | 13 | 98 | 70 |
Away | 61 | 18 | 16 | 27 | 73 | 92 |
Total | 122 | 44 | 38 | 41 | 169 | 162 |
* Statistics correct up to and including 19/09/2009