The fact that the Blades were given a real fright by Plymouth Argyle before coming through with the points might be a valuable lesson learnt for the run-in.

Kevin Blackwell watched his team hit the heights, threaten a goal avalanche and then have to survive a comeback before claiming the killer strike:

"That was some match and we went from the sublime to the ridiculous on occasions. We were top quality in all that we did for 48 minutes, but at half-time we were worried that the lads' mindset might be that the job was already done.

"The third goal went in and, lo and behold, that is what happened and we made one or two bad decisions that cost us goals. Every time that we put Argyle to bed we gave a sloppy goal away.

"However, I firmly believe that that game will have done more for us than any training session in terms of the lads getting to know each other and learning how they will respond.

"With so many debuts this season we don't really know each other very well and they have been learning on the hoof.

"After this game, Mark Bunn will know more about his back four, 'Morgs' knows about Kyle Bartley, Kyle knows about having Nyron Nosworthy at right-back etc, and players such as Mark Yeates and Tony Kallio etc know what is expected of being a Sheffield United player.

"They experienced things about themselves today that should stand them in good stead if they face the situation again - and they will hopefully deal with it better as a result.

"At one stage things were going so well that I thought I would have nothing to coach next week, but by the end I could see there will be plenty!

"However, I wrote in my programme notes about the players' character and they showed that again. Kyle Bartley only passed a fitness test at 10.30am this morning so the back four wasn't put together finally until then.

"We looked a threat all day long and the scoreline could have been higher, but beforehand I would have taken a slender win with a goal off somebody's backside if necessary because now it is all about winning games.

"There are a lot of games to be played and points to play for and this was a big win for us."

The Blades scored four times for the first time this season and the United boss had every reason to be pleased with them all:

"To see any goal hit the corner of the net with the power that Jamie Ward hit his first is always great to see, and it was ironic that just before we got our fourth I was asking Gary Speed if he thought our lads really do see scoring possibilities before they happen.

"Then up popped Richard Cresswell who showed awareness and opportunism to nick the ball round their goalkeeper to score - credit to him."