ADVER Sport's guide to Town's play-off rivals: Sheffield United.

The Chalkboard

NIGEL Clough sent his troops out fired up for the first leg and they were out of the blocks quickly at Bramall Lane and had Town rattled in the opening stages.

The game seemed to swing on the departure of Blades skipper John Brayford to injury at half-time.

Chris Basham had been a dominant force in the centre of midfield in the first half but was forced to drop to centre back in Brayford’s absence.

Town found it much easier to get the ball from that point on and began to have a much greater influence on the play.

Jamie Murphy and Ryan Flynn swapped flanks throughout and kept the Town back-line on their toes.

Blades keeper Mark Howard should have done better with Nathan Byrne’s winning strike but had kept his team in the game with a number of god stops before that and was impressive form all night, considering he was supposedly struggling with a back problem.

Likely Line-up

Swindon Advertiser:

A Man In Form: Matt Done

Swindon Advertiser:

ONLY came off the bench in the first leg at Bramall Lane with a quarter of an hour to play but caused Town all sorts of problems and it will be a big surprise if he is not handed a starting role by Blades boss Nigel Clough tonight.

The lively attacker had Town skipper Nathan Thompson in trouble with his bundles of pace and was able to get in behind the Swindon back-line on a couple of occassions.

He had a few chances to put United back ahead when the score was still 1-1, including a disallowed goal.

Done has been a long-term target for Clough, with the Blades boss finally getting his man in the January transfer window after shelling out what is thought to be a seven-figure sum to prize the 26-year-old away from League One rivals Rochdale.

He has chipped in with seven goals in 14 games since signing for United.

Treatment Room

THE Blades could be forced to do without Thursday night’s skipper John Brayford after the centre back was forced off injured at half-time.

Brayford has undergone treatment on a back problem and is still only rated as 50-50 for the game. Blades boss Nigel Clough will give him right up until kick-off to declare himself fit, so important is Brayford to United’s plans.

Should he not recover, Chris Basham will drop into the heart of defence, as he did on Thursday night, with club captain Michael Doyle coming into midfield.

Swindon Advertiser:
Stefan Scougall (right)

Stefan Scougall is definitely out with a hamstring injury. The Scot was the man to replace Brayford at Bramall Lane but ended up being substituted himself after being struck down.

Clough has confirmed that the injury will end Scougall’s season even if they get to Wembley.

Form Guide

Tue, Apr 14
Skybet League 1
1-0 Defeat v Yeovil (A)

Sat, Apr 18
Skybet League 1
1-1 Draw v Bradford (H)

Sat, Apr 25
Skybet League 1
1-1 Draw v Leyton Orient (A)

Sun, May 3
Skybet League 1
1-1 Draw v Chesterfield (H)

Thurs, May 7
Skybet League 1 Play-off
2-1 Defeat v Swindon Town (H)

Goalscorers

Marc McNulty: 13
Jose Baxter: 12
Jamie Murphy: 12

Discipline

Chris Basham: 9Y, 1R
Jose Baxter: 4Y, 1R
Bob Harris: 7Y

The Stat

In seven previous attempts Sheffield United have never been promoted via the play-offs.