Sheffield United kept themselves in the running for automatic promotion with a deserved victory over Swansea City, and were then further buoyed by an unexpected defeat by Birmingham against playoff challenging Preston North End. This means the Blades will take things right to the wire and now have a genuine shot at automatic promotion next Sunday of they can beat former manager Neil Warnock and his Crystal Palace side.

United recovered from a desperately disappointing defeat at Burnley and put in a convincing performance against the Swans and in the end the margin of victory probably flattered the visitors as United wasted numerous chances to seal the win. Paddy Kenny did not have a save to make all afternoon and with Chris Morgan and Matthew Kilgallon completely commanding the Blades preserved their goal relatively comfortably.

In the end it was a penalty that saw United home with a clumsy challenge by Garry Monk that upended Stephen Quinn. David Cotterill kept up his 100% record by cooling converting. United should have added further goals but had a nervous final period of the game before the wildly inconsistent Rob Styles called time on the game.

The Blades made changes from the game at Turf Moor with Jamie Ward, David Cotterill and Kyle Walker coming in for Gary Naysmith, Jon Joe O'Toole and Craig Beattie. Swansea started with a man midfield with leading scorer Jason Scotland up front and former Blade loanee Nathan Dyer starting wide on the left.

The game began against a backdrop of bright sunshine and a near capacity crowd Blades began the game well with the lively Ward involved in most of the early play. Indeed it was the former Chesterfield man who shrugged off Williams and hit a low drive on the angle that De Vries parried away at his near post. Swansea soon settled down to their neat and tidy passing game and Gomez was highly influential in the better things the visitors did. The Spanish midfielder hit a free kick wide and then teed up Pratley but his shot was blocked.

The Blades were competing well though and were able to break up the fluent Swansea football and turn defence into attack. From one equally swift move of their own, Kilgallon strode out of defence and played a beautiful diagonal ball that Ward superbly cushioned home with a volleyed finish. Unfortunately, the assistant referee's flag had gone up and the goal was disallowed. Angel was booked for a late foul but Kilgallon's booking not long after was very harsh as referee Styles adjudged he was time wasting when he held the ball after a free kick award. What was even more galling was that Britton did exactly the same moments later but was not even spoken to. This drew the ire of manager Kevin Blackwell who protested along with most of the crowd. Unbelievably referee Styles compounded his error by then sending Blackwell to the stands!

This fired up the United crowd who were now positively behind the side and baying for every single 50/50 decision. However, the penalty that Styles awarded on 37 minutes was an easy decision for the referee to make. Ward flicked on into the path of Quinn and the United midfielder was clumsily brought down by Monk. The award of the penalty was straight forward and COTTERILL stepped forward and confidently dispatched the kick to the goalkeepers' right hand side and into the side netting to give the Blades the lead. The reminder of the half passed without incident and as the players trooped off, the referee left the field to a cacouphony of boos despite awarding the Blades a penalty. A sure sign that he had not exactly endeared himself to the crowd on either side!

The second half began with United continuing to dictate things and most of the game was played in the visitors half. Swansea were playing some pretty one touch football but with Scotland well marshalled by Morgan and Kilgallon and Walker doing a sterling job on the dangerous Dyer, they looked punchless when they entered United territory. Half hearted appeals for a penalty for Swansea for a challenge on Pratley was about as good as it got for them as the Blades created the majority of the chances. Swansea made two early second half changes with Pintado and Orlandi coming on for Dyer and Allen but United continued to push them back.

Ward tried to chip De Vries with a clever chip and then Cotterill worked a yard to cross with his left foot but the keeper clawed away Henderson's header. From the resultant corner Morgan hit a ferocious drive after the ball had not been cleared but De Vries responded again to push the ball away. Henderson then had another chance but the keeper saved more comfortably this time from another headed effort with Cotterill the provider again.

Swansea had disappointed so far and only had another chance when another baffling decision by Styles when he was the only man in the stadium who saw a United player touch the ball out when most of the players were running back for a goal kick. Thankfully the corner came to nothing. Ward had a driven effort deflected behind when a pass to Quinn may have been the better option and then Ward yet again had De Vries back pedalling with another lofted effort and the ball this time hit the top of the bar. Ward was taken off not long after for Webber with the Blades fan appreciative of the strikers' efforts as he left the field.

Scotland had a long range effort blocked in a rare opportunity for the free scoring front man but Swansea had hardly made a chance all game and Paddy Kenny had simply not had a save to make. Butler came on for the Swans and O'Toole for the Blades as the game entered the final 5 minutes.

Henderson had another chance from a Walker cross but nodded wide before Webber stung De Vries hands with a driven effort and then a low shot as United sought to finish the game. Superb work from Kilgallon stopped Scotland executing one of his trademark turns and then Gomez fired well over as the Blades fans came to their feet in an effort to see the players home. Swansea failed to trouble the Blades and United were able to see out stoppage time without any real worries and leave the promotion race wide open yet again after another rollercoaster of a week for the Blades fans. All eyes will now turn to Selhurst Park and the Madjeski Stadium next Sunday as United fans now dare to dream the unthinkable after a season that had for so long threatened to end in mediocrity now could be just 90 minutes away from glory.

United - A marked improvement from the Burnley game and a far more like the standards of the games that had seen them go on the long unbeaten run prior to that defeat. We played some good football at times but more than that we won a lot of the individual battles. We were sharper to the ball, won our tackles and looked dangerous going forward. If ever there was to be goals in the game it looked like we were the team going to score them.

Our defence was really good and maintained the standards they have set all season. Morgan and Kilgallon were superb and made Scotland look very ordinary (as they did at the Liberty despite his penalty). However, big praise to Naughton and Walker who did excellent jobs on very tricky performers in Gomez and Dyer. Walker got stronger as the match progressed and showed great composure and positional sense.

In midfield we may not have kept the ball as well as perhaps we should have done with Quinn and Montgomery's distribution being erratic to say the least but at least those two harried and hustled and made Swansea work very hard and stemmed a lot of the supply to the dangerous front players. Halford and Cotterill were also quiet but the latter scored a cool penalty and also still put in 2 or 3 great crosses despite being out of the game for long spells. I felt Henderson and Ward worked really hard and never gave their defence a moment and both easily could have had a goal today with a bit of luck or without their keeper making some really good saves.

Overall after a so-so opening half hour which was relatively even the United performance and the overall atmosphere in the ground actually lifted after the ridiculous sending off of Blackwell for rightly protesting after a ludicrously inconsistent piece of refereeing from Rob Styles. The crowd became more vocal and the players got more stuck in and started to get on top of Swansea. The penalty was a daft foul but we took advantage and after half time it was nearly all United. We had at least 5 or 6 good chances but could not take them and whilst ever it was 1-0 there was always a chance they may nick an equaliser but in truth they never really threatened.

So it all goes to next week. Most United fans have been let down so many times that I am not going to get too confident. As it was 2 years ago when any one of 3 teams could go down, it looks like it may be any one of 3 teams to go up. Maybe this time the Football Gods will work in United's favour. I think if United win at Palace they have a tremendous chance as Birmingham have the jitters big time with only one win in

Kenny 7/10
Had nothing to do all game really. His best moment was when he superbly trapped a long back pass and then played the ball away nonchalantly! Once he dithered to come and get the ball at the end of the half and this led to Henderson clearing when it really ought to have been Kenny's ball.

Walker 7/10
A big call to play him in such an important game but Blackwell rightly felt his pace would be needed. Started the game a little slow and Dyer beat him once down the line but he then made one good tackle and also showed some composure to 'football' his way out. After this he grew stronger and stronger. Dyer was taken off which was a sign of how well he played. He is quite a bit taller than Naughton and whilst he is not quite as fast he still can shift over the ground. Think he will eventually be a centre back but shows how much the coaching staff think of him that they put him ahead of Bromby and Sun.

Naughton 7/10
Better game than recent weeks and ironically in a more unfamiliar position. He did not do much offensively but his defensive work was solid. He had a really tough opponent in Gomez who drifted all over the field but Naughton did well and his influence lessened as the game went on.

Kilgallon 8/10
Excellent game. Maybe the outstanding player on the pitch. He defended sensibly and read the game really well. He actually came out of defence a lot with the ball as Swansea only had one up top so he wisely sought to draw out the midfielders they were employing. He had a number of really good runs forward. His hold up and tackle of Scotland near the end was supreme defensive work and a sign that one way or the other he will be playing top flight football soon.

Morgan 8/10
As with his centre back partner he had a really good game today. Recovered well after his mistake on Monday that led to the Patterson header and was much tighter to his opponents. Won every header and clearance that came his way. Really solid performance.

Montgomery 7.5/10
A typical Monty performance. His passing was really poor for the most part and some of his dribbles where he had no control over the ball were almost laughable. However, the other aspects of his game were superb with his drive, tenacity and tackling spot on. A number of loose balls that he won with crunching tackles. Phenomenal work rate. If only he had a bit more composure with the ball at his feet bit then if he did he would not be with us.

Quinn 6/10
A frustrating performance. For much of the game he was really poor and continued to give the ball away or try and just help the ball on. However for all the poor play he actually played two or three very clever balls too and of course won the penalty but advancing into a good area of the field. Still do not think he does enough to earn a shirt week in, week out.

Halford 5/10
Think he has been poor in the last three games. He seemed to just stroll about today and maybe he has started to believe his own hype. He was one of the few players who did not always win his 50/50's and was also sloppy in possession today which was unlike him. At times I felt he could have taken more long throws but seemed to defer taking of the throws even when it was sometimes on his side.

Cotterill 6.5/10
Whilst he was not in the game for long spells he still put in two great crosses that could have led to goals. He took a very good penalty. Whilst he can be on the periphery for much of matches he offers us a genuine creative force and a gives us width. I just feel for all his inconsistencies we are much better for having him in the side.

Ward 7.5/10
Disappointed me on Monday when he had his poorest game since he came to the Lane but got back to the excellent standards of previous games. Looked lively, was direct running at defenders and always looked to get a shot on goal. Showed real ingenuity with two chipped/lobbed efforts.

Henderson 7.5/10
Thought the Swansea backline really struggled with him all game. He was too strong and often too good for them. Led the line well and had two or three headed efforts and maybe will think he could have done better and ought to have scored one.

Subs

Webber
Came on for Ward. Had one poor shot when he really ought to have made the keeper work harder but then had one good low shot that nearly went in. Annoys me that he jogs about when he had not played for a few months and has just come on as sub. Also what was he doing at the end crossing the ball (twice) when he should have kept it in the corner?

O'Toole
Brought on for Halford and helped us keep the ball near the end.

Lupoli
Came on for Cotterill right on full time. Would have brought him on earlier instead of Webber if anyone was going to replace Ward.

Swansea

They really impressed me at The Liberty Stadium earlier in the season and have done so in other TV games I have seen. Undoubtedly Martinez has recruited really well on a limited budget/wage bill and they have some excellent players in Gomez and Scotland. They do play football in the right way but today as United managed to shackle Scotland they did very little in the final third and much like us on Monday never really looked like scoring. They almost played too much football and at times at the back tried to pass the ball out and it led to trouble.

Defensively is their weakest area. The keeper De Vries has been erratic when I have seen them but today he made some good saves. Whilst Williams is quite quick and Monk is not bad in the air I do not think they are blessed with their better players at the back and neither really command and it proved today as Henderson and Ward gave them a tough game.

Midfield they have some clever players like Gomez and Britton but I also think Pratley is very underrated and is a player in the mould of James Harper at Reading who is a good athlete who can get up and down and pass the ball. With some additions, a key player like Bodde back and a bit of experience such as a 'Morgan type' at the back and they will contend for promotion next year.

Today I just felt we did a good job on their key players, limited their football to areas where they could not hurt us and closed them down when they did enter dangerous territory. It was really pleasing to see us out perform them as they have been on fire recently and looked like genuine contenders for the final playoff spot. At the end they were all on their knees; a combination of how hard United had made them work and the disappointment that their season was now over.

Referee

Rob Styles. Even now several hours after the game I am still angry about his absolute appalling performance. It was an utterly incompetent display where he basically wanted to be the star of the show and did his best to completely ruin what was a pretty good game of football. There are so many instances of bad refereeing and inconsistency that it would be hard to mention them all. At least he gave the penalty but that was so obvious even stiles could not get that wrong.

Early on he failed to book Naughton when he kicked the ball away. Fair enough if that was how he was going to officiate but then 10 minutes later he booked Kilgallon for basically picking the ball up and could hardly be seen as blatant time wasting especially when the game was 0-0. Not long after a Preston player did exactly the same but Styles did not book him. Rightly so Blackwell and most of the crowd protested at the complete and utter lack of consistency. Of course what did Styles do? He sent Blackwell off.

A decision to penalise Cotterill for a foot up when he won the ball and the Swansea player had his foot as high was another dreadful decision. He gave United a free kick then switched it to Swansea's and then back again in the second half as frankly no one in the ground knew what the hell was happening! A routine goal kick was given as a corner. He did not spot a blatant Henderson hand ball. He also missed a bad tackled on Montgomery after the ball had gone and played on.

Need I go on? Even more annoying was the dramatics he showed in making decisions with everyone in the ground having to be treated to his RADA like auditions when he made decisions with his ridiculous pointing of his arms and over the top brandishing of the yellow cards as he booked players.

Basically he wanted to be the star of the show and it simply became the Rob Styles show at times. Never want to see this man referee at the Lane again. He was everything Webb, Halsey and Wiley are not as he did not let the game flow, was noticeable every minute and was petty and inconsistent.

Stadium/Crowd
Really good atmosphere inside the ground today with a healthy away following (although less said about some of them for their moronic behaviour in trying to fight numerous stewards) and a really 'supportive' home crowd that did their best to encourage and life the players all game. When the game entered the stoppage time the whole crowd came to their feet to see United game. With a big following next week it will be like a home game next week. Hopefully with this backing, the United team will not crumble and bottle it like so many other United teams in their recent history.