Michael O’Neill delivers verdict on Sheffield United ahead of Stoke City clash | OneFootball

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Football League World

·15 October 2021

Michael O’Neill delivers verdict on Sheffield United ahead of Stoke City clash

Article image:Michael O’Neill delivers verdict on Sheffield United ahead of Stoke City clash

Stoke City boss Michael O’Neill believes his side face one of their hardest games of the season tomorrow as they travel to Bramall Lane to face Sheffield United.

The Blades are currently sitting in 14th place after losing their last two matches against Middlesbrough and current leaders AFC Bournemouth, with both of their ties taking place away from South Yorkshire as Slavisa Jokanovic’s men endured a tough recent spell on the road.


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It previously looked as though United had got their act together after the previous international break, having failed to win any of their opening five league games of the season, as they went unbeaten in their first five matches in September.

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Convincing wins against the likes of Peterborough United and Hull City set them on the right path as they took 11 points from a possible 15 in that run and charged up the table. But they have fallen back down with defeats at the Riverside and the Vitality Stadium.

Their test against Stoke City tomorrow afternoon won’t be any easier, with the Potters vastly improving since the end of last term and are deservedly in the play-offs after 11 league games.

Despite the ten-place difference between the sides and other promotion favourites including West Bromwich Albion and Bournemouth living up to expectations, unlike the Blades, O’Neill thinks tomorrow’s trip to Bramall Lane will be one of the tougher tasks they will face all season.

Speaking to Stoke-on-Trent Live ahead of the weekend clash, O’Neill said: “They had a difficult start probably adapting to Championship life again. There’s obviously a bit of a hangover when you get relegated, we know that ourselves as a club, it’s not just straightforward.

“But I think in recent weeks their performances have been strong and they look more like the side that probably people saw prior to going to the Premier League.

“It’s a different system as well and they’re probably adapting to that because it’s a lot of the same players that they had in the Championship with Chris Wilder, consistent how they played with a back three.

“Sheffield United away is up there with the toughest games you’re going to get in this league so we’re going to have to be at our very best to get something from the game.”

The Verdict:

Sheffield United’s 6-2 home win against Peterborough United last month shows how good they can be when things click, so O’Neill is right in saying that this could be one of their toughest games of the season.

Despite their slow start and inconsistency, it would be no surprise to see Slavisa Jokanovic’s men find their form before the next international break and really push on as one of the in-form teams in the second tier when they get the opportunity to bring in a few new players in January.

With the promotion-winning pedigree of Jokanovic and the size of the South Yorkshire side, it would be no surprise to see some big names drop down to play in the Championship and we have already seen that with Swedish international Robin Olsen arriving on deadline day.

They will need to put together a formidable run of form though if they want to break into the top two at any point during the campaign, because they have already fallen well behind in the race for automatic promotion and will find the top six is out of their reach if they fail to get their act together and adapt to the new system.

But the Blades are still in touching distance of the play-offs, so they need to take advantage of this and use this as motivation for their next set of fixtures.

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