Blades midfielder Michael Doyle spoke to the Sheffield Star ahead of his side's League One game against Carlisle at Brammall Lane, Doyle saying that the Blades have to get back to basics :
“We have got to get back to working really hard and doing the basics right again. We have to start working as a team again rather than as individuals. We are probably not as tight as a unit as we were at the start of the season when we had two banks of four and led from the front. We got results at the start of the season because we worked hard for each other and we have do that again. We have to forget about the nice, attractive football and get back to grinding teams down and having a siege mentality as a group and not working individually.
“The league is the bread and butter for us, at the start of the year, we said we wanted to try and get promoted. I think we have dropped some silly points this year. It is not like teams are cutting us open. We are making individual mistakes and that is why we are dropping points. We need to cut them out and work harder as a group and concentrate for 90 minutes. We are losing concentration when we get in front and it is costing us.”
In team news for the Blades this afternoon they will first be missing talismanic centre-half Chris Morgan who has been sidelined for almost a year now with a cruciate ligament injury, while another player out with the same knee problem is utility man Johnny Ertl who is currently working his way back to full fitness having played the full 90 minutes of a reserve game against Derby on Wednesday.
Meanwhile pacey Wolves-loanee winger Nathaniel Mendez-Laing is absent with a hamstring injury, while left-back Andy Taylor, who has been out since last season with a knee problem has picked up a hamstring strain on the fitness comeback trail. Finally, in better news for Blades boss Danny Wilson, defender Lecsinel Jean-Francois is once more available for selection after being away on international duty with Haiti last weekend.
The referee for this afternoon's match is Phil Gibbs from Birmingham and he will be assisted down the lines by Army Sergeant Declan Ford who is attached to the Lincolnshire FA and Gary Stott from Manchester. Meanwhile the fourth official is Richard Bartlett from Sale in Cheshire.