Sheffield United will still rue Burnley controversy: View | OneFootball

In May 2009, Sheffield United were set to compete for a return to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

Having missed out during the previous campaign, the Blades would have been keen to compete at the top end of the division and this is what they were able to do, finishing in third place in the end.

On the final day, they had the opportunity to secure automatic promotion, but could only muster a draw against Neil Warnock's Crystal Palace and Birmingham City grabbed second place following their victory at fellow promotion rivals Reading.

With this, they needed to prepare themselves for the play-offs and they had an advantage going into them, having the opportunity to play the second leg at Bramall Lane.

After showing that they could compete in the Premier League during the 2006/07 campaign under their former boss Warnock, the Blades wouldn't have had a shortage of motivation to get back there under Kevin Blackwell.

Sheffield United's route to the play-off final

They faced Preston North End in the play-off semis - and had to travel to Deepdale to play the first leg.

Sean St Ledger put the Lilywhites 1-0 up in the first half with a composed finish from close range - and that gave United a challenge to rise to as the visitors looked to get back into the game.

This is exactly what they were able to do, with Brian Howard firing the ball into an empty net to level at the start of the second 45 to take a 1-1 draw to Bramall Lane.

Darius Henderson and Jamie Ward were both out for the second leg, but Greg Halford popped up just shy of the hour mark to head in a crucial winner for United.

Preston's Jon Parkin could have easily been sent off for a high boot on Halford before the latter's goal, but Alan Wiley decided against brandishing a red card.

This didn't prove to be costly in the end, with the Blades booking their place at Wembley.

Decisions against Sheffield United and the implications of this

With Burnley overcoming Reading in the semis, it was the Clarets who were the Blades' opponents at Wembley and Owen Coyle's side made an excellent start, with Wade Elliott's excellent strike allowing the Lancashire club to take the lead.

But there were two penalty incidents that went against United during the game, in what was a pre-VAR era.

In the first half, Howard had a good case for a penalty when he was brought down by Graham Alexander.

There was no doubt that it was a foul, but it was unclear whether it was a penalty or a free-kick.

Howard landed inside of the box though and on another day, he would have been awarded a spot-kick.

But Mike Dean failed to award a penalty or a free-kick in the end - and that was a poor decision at a potentially crucial time for United - who could have turned the game around if they had a chance from 12 yards.

In fairness to the Clarets, they did have chances to extend their lead, but they were lucky not to concede two penalties during the game, with Kyle Walker clearly being taken down in the second 45.

This time, there were no doubt that the challenge was inside the box, with Christian Kalvenes clearly barging Walker over, but a foul wasn't awarded.

To add insult to injury, substitute Ward was sent off for two bookings and the Clarets managed to see out the game, giving them the chance to compete in the top flight.

United suffered the consequences of that loss, going on to lose Walker and Naughton during the summer window that followed, as well as Leigh Bromby and Howard.

And they were relegated to League One before they were able to rebuild under Chris Wilder, eventually getting back to the Championship in 2017 following six seasons in the third tier.

They may have been promoted to the top flight twice since that disappointment against the Clarets at Wembley, but it's still a painful memory for many supporters.