28th February Paul Thirlwell is available after sitting out Saturday's 1-0 victory at home to Rotherham United through suspension. Andy Liddell, Derek Geary and Nick Montgomery will all come into contention, after all startng on the bench at the weekend. Danny Cullip will miss the game as he serves the second game of a two-match ban. Arsenal have Thierry Henry ruled out of the replay with an achilles injury. Arsene Wenger is already without Dennis Bergkamp, Jose Antonio Reyes and Robin van Persie - all through suspension - while Robert Pires is sidelined with an ankle injury. Freddie Ljungberg is set to move into attack alongside either Quincy Owusu-Abeyie or Arturo Lupoli. Manuel Almunia will start in goal for the Gunners. The North London team are also still without Sol Campbell, Edu, Gilberto Silva and Justin Hoyte through injury.

27th February Neil Warnock insisted the result was all that mattered after his side's poor performance against Rotherham United. Paul Shaw's second half strike gave the Blades the valuable 3 points, but United rarely looked convincing against the Championship's bottom team. Commenting after the match the Blades boss said: "Today the result was 10 times more important than the performance," We were very disappointed with how things went at Plymouth in midweek and knew we had to get back on track here. The first half was terrible. I don't think some of the lads would have been able to pass water out there. But we had some pretty strong words with the lads at half-time, told them what they needed to do and I think they've put on a decent display in the second half - and the result is exactly what we needed to be able to kick on with things."

26th February Sheffield United 1 Rotherham United 0 (Attendance: 18,431)
Line-up: Barnes, Kozluk, Harley, Bromby, Morgan, Quinn, Tonge, Jagielka, Gray (Beckett 68), Johnson T (Liddell 67), Shaw (Kabba 76)
Subs Not Used: Geary, Montgomery.
Booked: Quinn 19, Johnson T. 24, Bromby 90.
Scorer: Shaw 51.

Paul Shaw grabbed the only goal of the game as the Blades defeated Rotherham United in a dire South Yorkshire derby at the Lane today. The Blades picked up the three points, but were far from impressive against a team that are bottom of The Championship. Manager Neil Warnock made five changes to the team defeated 3-0 by Plymouth Argyle including Tommy Johnson and Phil Barnes, who were both making their starting debuts for United. And it was Barnes, standing in for the injured Paddy Kenny, who denied Martin Butler a goal as Rotherham looked to end a run of seven successive league defeats. United's best chance of a poor opening half fell to Shaw but he could only shoot against the post with goalkeeper Mike Pollitt left motionless in the away goal. Warnock would have had a few harsh words to say to his troops at the interval and they seemed to respond at the start of the second half. The breakthrough came when Shaw reacted quickest to Phil Jagielka's header with the forward keeping his composure to slot home the first goal of the game just six minutes after the re-start. Steven Kabba made a long awaited return to action coming on as a substitute late-on to the delight of the Kop, and Luke Beckett nearly made an instant impact after coming off the bench but his close-range header was stopped on the line by the busy Pollitt. However, one goal proved to be enough for the Blades who registered their first league win at home this year ahead of the midweek clash with The Gunners.

25th February Phil Barnes will make his debut against Rotherham United at Bramall Lane tomorrow. The Blades goalkeeper replaces Paddy Kenny who has a hip problem. Danny Cullip and Paul Thirlwell are both banned from the match, due to suspensions, but defender Chris Morgan will return to the team. Danny Cadamarteri is a doubt, but Luke Beckett is expected to be involved after his loan spell at Huddersfield Town. The Millers are without striker Michael Proctor who joined Swindon on loan earlier this week. Will Hoskins set to be given a place up front again alongside Martin Butler. Rob Scott has been back in training again this week but the game will probably come a little too early for him to be included in the squad.

24th February Stoke striker Ade Akinbiyi has turned down Sheffield United in favour of a £600,000 move to Burnley. The 30-year-old has agreed personal terms and the move will go ahead subject to the player passing a medical. The Blades had a similar bid accepted for Akinbiyi but the forward has chosen to join the Clarets, despite United being three points ahead in the table and three places above them. Stoke director of football John Rudge commented: "Both clubs had offers accepted by us and it was down to Ade to make his choice. He has agreed terms with Burnley after speaking to Sheffield United. We are obviously disappointed to lose Ade but everybody has a price. The board of directors put that price on his head and two clubs met it."

24th February Neil Warnock has recalled Luke Beckett from his loan spell at Huddersfield Town. Warnock had recently agreed to extend the striker's loan spell for a second month, but insisted on a 24-hour recall clause. Beckett has made just one appearance for the Blades as a substitute after arriving from Stockport before being loaned out to Huddersfield in January. The 28-year-old, who has hit six goals in seven matches for the Terriers, is expected to go straight into Warnock's squad for Saturday's Championship match with Rotherham United.

23rd February The Blades are recalling Phil Barnes from his loan at Torquay after first-choice goalkeeper Paddy Kenny suffered a hip injury at Plymouth last night. Kenny has undergone scans on the injury but United are still waiting to discover the extent of the problem. Barnes, who has played five games for the Gulls in the last month, is expected to start his first game for United against Rotherham on Saturday.

22nd February Plymouth Argyle 3 Sheffield United 0 (Attendance: 13,953)
Line-up: Kenny (Thirlwell 28), Geary, Bromby, Cullip, Jagielka, Harley, Montgomery, Liddell, Tonge (Quinn 59), Shaw (Forte 59), Gray.
Subs Not Used: Francis, Johnson.
Booked: Tonge 11, Quinn 87.

The Blades came back down to earth tonight with an almighty bump after 0-3 defeat to Plymouth Argyle at Home Park and paid the price of not having a substitute goalkeeper to bring on. Graham Coughlan's early goal set the tone for a disastrous evening for United’s promotion hopes, as they lost keeper Paddy Kenny to injury and slipped five points adrift of the play-off pack. Neil Warnock's unfathomable policy of not selecting a substitute goalkeeper meant Phil Jagielka had to take the gloves and there was little the midfielder could do to prevent Paul Wotton and Dexter Blackstock adding further goals. Barely a minute had passed before midfielder Akos Buzsaky whipped in a dangerous cross for Plymouth, which defender Leigh Bromby was forced to clear - but the hosts soon drew first blood. Winger Tony Capaldi collected the ball on the left flank before delivering a delightful ball into the box, where Coughlan volleyed into the bottom left-hand corner for his second goal of the season. Inspired by their start, Plymouth continued to press forward, and Wotton's 25-yard free-kick went just the wrong side of the right post. The Blades began to gain a foothold on the game, and Andy Liddell's shot from distance went inches wide before Michael Tonge was booked for dissent – a booking which could mean the Blades midefielder misses the match with Arsenal. Despite his indiscretion, Tonge began to emerge as a key figure for the Blades, and his intricate efforts in midfield proved a constant source of unease for the Plymouth. Liddell's dangerous cross was cleared by Hasney Aljofree before another teasing delivery by Liddell was fired just wide from six yards out by Tonge. The Blades were dealt a massive blow after 28 minutes when Kenny was forced off through injury - and with no recognised goalkeeper on the bench, Warnock replaced the shot-stopper with midefielder Jagielka. While Jagielka was largely unemployed during the remainder of the first phalf, he was well and truly beaten two minutes after the restart. Wotton collected the ball 25 yards out and drilled a fierce right-footed effort into the bottom left-hand corner to hand his side a 2-0 advantage. United almost hit back immediately, but Jon Harley's 25-yard effort was bravely blocked by David Norris. With Capaldi an increasingly influential figure in midfield for Plymouth, they began to dominate possession and looked more likely to add to their two-goal advantage than allow United the lifeline of a goal. Nick Chadwick fired narrowly wide, before Micky Evans headed just off target from six yards. In a tactical switch, Warnock replaced Tonge and Paul Shaw with Jonathan Forte and Alan Quinn - but they struggled to make an impact as Plymouth remained on top. Blackstock, on as a second-half replacement for Evans, nodded home Peter Gilbert's left-wing cross to complete the victory for Plymouth and put a dint in Untied’s promotion hopes. And the question all the Blades fans were asking on the long journey back to Sheffield was; would we have lost if we had had Phil Branes on the bench – instead of loaning the player to Torquay?!

19th February Arsenal 1 Sheffield United 1 (Attendance: 36,891)
Line-up: Kenny, Harley, Geary, Bromby, Cullip, Thirlwell (Shaw 45), Jagielka, Montgomery (Forte 82), Tonge, Liddell (Francis 82), Gray.
Subs Not Used: Cadamarteri, Quinn.
Booked: Liddell 43, Thirlwell 44, Cullip 72.
Scorer: Gray 90 pen.

A last Minute Andy Gray penalty earned the Blades a well deserved replay in a pulsating FA Cup fifth round tie at Highbury today. Gray converted the spot-kick after Philippe Senderos was adjudged to have handled Danny Cullip’s goal-bound flick with just seconds remaining of normal time. Substitute Robert Pires appeared to have saved Arsenal from a replay at Bramall Lane with a 78th-minute opener. Arsene Wenger’s side had struggled to overcome the loss of Dennis Bergkamp, who was sent-off in the first half for shoving United defender Cullip in a keenly contested affair in North London. Arsenal had plenty of possession but until Pires tucked away his chance, United goalkeeper Paddy Kenny had repelled all they had to offer with a string of fine saves. The opening minutes saw plenty of bustle in midfield but Arsenal had only one real effort to show for their early possession - Cesc Fabregas testing Kenny with a left-foot drive from 18-yards. United, however, were by no means overawed by the reigning Premiership champions and should have taken the lead in the eighth minute. Nick Montgomery progressed down the right and should have done better when presented with the chance to pull the ball back from the byline. However, the Blades midfielder went on to win a corner and when Andy Liddell delivered the ball into the penalty area, Gray’s point-blank header was somehow kept out by Manuel Almunia at the near post. It was a real scare for the Premiership Prima-donnas who looked distinctly uncomfortable having to contend with some fierce tackling from United’s midfielders. In the 23rd minute, Arsenal were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the penalty area when Phil Jagielka fouled van Persie but the petulant striker wasted the chance by aiming his shot straight at United’s defensive blockade. Dennis Bergkamp went close to scoring the opener for Arsenal in the 25th minute when he attempted to curl his 18-yard effort into the top corner of the net. However, the Dutchman could not keep his shot down and it just flew over the top of the crossbar. It was all the Gunners at this point as Kenny produced another fine stop from Jose Antonio Reyes as the Gunners searched for an opening. Leigh Bromby then wasted a glorious chance at the opposite end when Liddell’s free-kick picked him out in a wealth of space inside the Arsenal penalty area. The big defender rose unchallenged but could not direct his header on target and the Gunners’ momentary lapse of concentration went unpunished. The impressive Liddell then sent a right foot volley flashing just wide of Almunia’s left-hand post. Ten minutes from half-time Arsenal were reduced to ten men when Bergkamp was handed a red card by referee Neale Barry. Arsenal’s players were incensed after Cullip had accidentally caught Fabregas with his studs, and a melee followed with the Arsenal players pushing and shoving – Cullip to his credit did not react to the pushing, then Bergkamp appeared to raise his hands and push Cullip away. Barry immediately reached for his pocket and produced the red card to the fury of Arsene Wenger and Bergkamp’s team-mates. The dismissal then sparked a flurry of bookings with United’s Liddell and Paul Thirlwell added to Barry’s notebook along with Fabregas for a wild challenge on Montgomery which should have produced an instant red card, but with Arsenal already down to 10 men the referee hesitated before ‘bottling’ his decision and producing only a yellow card. United made one change during the interval with Paul Shaw added to the attack in place of midfielder Thirlwell. Arsenal who almost broke the deadlock in the 52nd minute when Emmanuel Eboue forced Paddy Kenny into a fine save at his near post. Without Bergkamp’s guile in the final third, Arsenal lacked the creativity to break down a resolute Blades rearguard. In the 65th minute Arsene Wenger removed van Persie in favour of the fragile and ever diving Pires in a bid to provide the required spark in attack. The change did the trick 12 minutes from time for the Gunners. Pires forced the ball home after Flamini’s first effort had rebounded into his path off the hands of the unfortunate Kenny, and the Frenchman made no mistake from six yards to give Arsenal the lead. At this point Wenger must have thought the game was all but over, but the Gunners boss obviously does not know too much about the battling characteristics of Sheffield United. And in the final moments of the match, Gray sent the hordes of Blades fans’ wild when Danny Cullip’s hooked effort was handled by Senderos and he converted the subsequent spot-kick to earn a deserved at the Lane in a fortnight.

18th February United will be without defender Chris Morgan, who starts a two-match ban after being sent off against West Ham last week. Paul Shaw and Phil Jagielka should both shake off knocks in time to play. Arsenal are expected to leave out Thierry Henry (Achilles) but Freddie Ljungberg is set to return. The Gunners also have Edu (hamstring), Ashley Cole (flu), Sol Campbell (ankle) and Justin Hoyte (ankle) all injured. Captain Patrick Vieira and Jens Lehmann will be rested.

17th February Ade Akinbiyi is poised to join United after Stoke City accepted an offer in the region of £600,000, which is also thought to include a bonus payment if the Blades win promotion to the Premiership. Akinbiyi is now free to speak directly with Blades representatives who will discuss personal terms with the 30 year-old Potters striker.

16th February Neil Warnock has revealed is keen to sign Nottingham Forest striker David Johnson on loan. The Blades boss says he is interested in the 28-year-old, who is looking for a new club after disagreements with Forest manager Gary Megson. He commented: "David is a player I like and I'm always looking to improve the squad, we've made Forest aware we're interested. It doesn't look like he'll be involved again there this season." He continued: "If they're going to loan him out it they might as well to loan him out to a team who are going to be playing teams around them."

15th February Chris Morgan will miss the FA Cup fifth-round clash with Arsenal at Highbury through suspension. The Blades captain has been given two-match ban following his sending off in the 4th replay against West Ham. Morgan was dismissed for bringing down Marlon Harewood in the penalty area at the Lane, and was also sent off at Gillingham earlier this season. The uncompromising defender will also miss the trip to Plymouth later this month.

13th February Sheffield United 1 West Ham United 1 (3-1 Pens) (Attendance: 15,067)
Line-up: Kenny, Bromby, Cullip, Morgan, Harley, Tonge, Jagielka, Montgomery, Liddell, Shaw (Geary 65), Gray.
Subs Not Used: Quinn, Thirlwell, Forte, Cadamarteri.
Booked: Culip 27, Morgan 53.
Sent-Off: Morgan 62 (straight red).
Scorer: Liddell 7.

The Blades produced one of their most gritty and determined performances of the season today to beat West Ham in the FA Cup and set up a mouth-watering tie with Arsenal next weekend. Neil Warnock’s men went through on penalties after an enthralling afternoon at the Lane in one of those games Unitedites will always remember. The Blades started the better of the two teams and went ahead with their first real chance. Paul Shaw was fouled by Carl Fletcher and from the resulting free-kick Andy Liddell’s well struck drive beat Stephen Bywater in front of the Shoreham Kop. West Ham were in more trouble two minutes later, when Liddell crossed and Phil Jagielka struck just wide of the post. West Ham were playing far too deep and again the Blades tested the busy Hammers goalkeeper. This time a long ball forward and Gray out paced Malky MacKay to the ball, but failed to chip the advancing keeper. At the other end a foul by Chris Morgan gave the Hammer their first chance, but Teddy Sherringham fired straight into the Blades defenders allowing the ball to be quickly cleared. This allowed Jagielka un-selfishly square the ball for Gray, but the Blades striker over ran the ball and the chance was gone. The Blades were causing mayhem in the west Ham defence and the Hammers had to wait until the 32nd minute before Marlon Harwood had his first chance at goal, but he ballooned his effort wildly over the Blades bar. This was followed by a shot by Mark Noble which went wide. Finally West Ham managed to get a chance to level, Sherringham beat Paddy Kenny but then dithered on the ball before blasting over. It had been a good half from the Blades, particularly the performances of Gray, Shaw and Liddell up-front and the ever busy Nick Montgomery in midfield. Five minutes into the second half Harwood crossed for Sherringham, but the former England striker was blocked by Leigh Bromby. A minute later, Jagielka found Michael Tonge, the Blades midfielder dribbled past Anton Ferdinand before forcing Bywater to palm the ball round the post. After 53 minutes, Morgan was booked after colliding with Harwood. Sheringham produced a fine strike from the free-kick, which went just over the bar. Finally, West Ham got their equaliser after Morgan chopped Harwood down in front of goal. The Blades captain was the last man and so the referee was left with no option but to send the defender off. Sherringham dispatched the spot kick to Kenny’s right to bring the Hammers back into the match. After 65 minutes, Derek Geary replaced Shaw, who was the unlucky player who had had to be sacrificed after the sending off of Morgan. After 72 minutes, Jagielka had a shot deflect just wide. Even with 10 players United were giving as good as West Ham, but each team became cagier as the 90 minutes approached. Despite a man short, the Blades dominated extra time without creating any chance of note. In the second period West Ham had the best chance to win the game, Hayden Mullins heading narrowly over the bar. In the penalty shoot-out; Gray, Jon Harley and Liddell all scored, with Tonge and Jagielka missing. Kenny's proved the Hero saving both Sherringham and Harwood’s penalty kicks. Mark Noble managed to score for the Hammers. And with the score 2-1 to The Blades, West Ham's Fletcher fired his penalty off the top of the bar and over to allow Liddell to win the tie and send the Blades Fans into a frenzy of celebrations.

12th February Rob Kozluk and Ashley Ward are hoping to start in the fourth-round replay with West Ham. Kozluk has returned from a loan spell at Preston and Ward looks to have recovered from a knee injury. West Ham defender Tomas Repka is available after suspension and should return to the starting line-up. Steve Lomas may also start after playing 75 minutes for the reserves in midweek but Gavin Williams (ankle) and Matthew Etherington (groin) are out.

10th February Steven Kabba marked his return to action with the winning goal for the reserves against Wigan reserves. The Injury-jinxed striker, who has been restricted to just one appearance for the Blades in the last two seasons due to a succession of serious injuries was named as a substitute for the fixture at Saltergate. Kabba was introduced after 73 minutes and kept his nerve to slot a late winner through Wigan keeper Gary Walsh's legs.

9th February United have signed striker Tommy Johnson after he turned down a move to Wycombe Wanderers. The 34 year old ex-Gillingham striker has signed a contract keeping him at the Lane until the end of the season. Neil Warnock commented: "We've signed Tommy until the end of the season to help out with coaching the forwards, I wanted a new face on the training ground to freshen things up a bit and he's got all the experience you need. He's not finished as a player, he'll be playing as well, but we've brought him in primarily as a coach."

7th February Neil Warnock refused to be too downbeat about his side's defeat to table-toppers Ipswich Town. David Unsworth and Shefki Kuqi were on-target for the Tractor Boys with Kelvin Davis outstanding in goal. "I'm not too disappointed really," Warnock said. "I thought we played well. Apart from a world-class goalkeeping display, the best I've seen for many years, we would've got something from the game. We've played against a good side. They're a good side because they beat us 2-0 and they haven't played very well."

5th February Sheffield United 0 Ipswich Town 2 (Attendance: 20,680)
Line-up:Kenny, Geary (Liddell 67), Harley, Bromby, Cullip, Morgan, Jagielka, Montgomery (Quinn 66), Tonge, Gray.
Subs Not Used: Thirlwell, Shaw.
Booked: Tonge 66.

The Blades chances of automatic promotion have gone as they fell to a another home defeat, this time at the hands of promotion favourites Ipswich Town. A debut goal from left-back David Unsworth and a second-half strike from Shefki Kuqi, gave the Suffolk side a 2-0 victory at the Lane. Surprisingly to those on the Kop; Neil Warnock had left three of his most influential players on the substitute’s bench. Alan Quinn, Andy Liddell and Paul Shaw were forced to watch from the dugout in what was one of the most important matches of the season for United. The Blades started the match the better of the two teams with both Andy Gray and Phil Jagielka going close in the first 10 minutes. And so it was entirely against the run of the play when Ipswich went ahead midway through the first half. Ipswich striker Kuqi with the ball inside the united half; held the ball up long enough for Unsworth to sneak through on the left flank. The bulldozing Finnish International then slipped a neat ball into his path while statuesque defenders watched on. The former Everton defender advanced to the corner of the six-yard area and shaped to cross. As goalkeeper Paddy Kenny crept across his goal to anticipate the delivery, he smashed the ball into the roof of the net inside the keeper's near post. Then, Darren Currie went close with a 25 yard free-kick for Ipswich, the ball just dipping over the bar followed by Jim Magilton almost putting Darren Bent in on goal with the Blades defence dithering before clearing for a corner. Just before the break, the Blades wasted what would prove to be their best chance of the game. Michael Tonge's free- kick cleared everyone apart from Leigh Bromby in front of the Kop at the far post, but the defender directed his header the wrong side of the post from close range. The Blades began the second half in a forceful fashion. Tonge who was on top form again today producing a curling effort which forced a fine save from goalkeeper Kelvin Davis. Then, Gray made a surging run on the right before firing at the outstanding Davis. But just as they had in the first half, Ipswich found the best way to ease the pressure was to reply with a goal. When a corner was only partially cleared, Ian Westlake's shot was deflected into the path of an offside Kuqi. And, as you might expect with the striker standing two yards offside he had plenty of time to control the ball before slipping it past Kenny. The linesman - who also missed a trip on Nick Montgomery which should have resulted in a penalty - had missed it completely and his failure to keep up with play was to be another key moment of the match. It was a cruel blow for United who never got back into the match from this moment. Many on the Kop felt Quinn and Liddell should have been introduced a lot earlier in the match - maybe at half-time to give the Blades more width. When they were finally introduced after two thirds of the match had already passed it was already too late for the Blades, as neither player really got a foothold in the game. Ipswich, with a well marshalled defence lead by the outstanding Jason De Vos stood firm and United never troubled Ipswich again and the game was over. Three straight League defeats have taken their tole on United and they have now fallen to 8th in the Championship.

4th February The Blades face Championship leaders Ipswich Town at the Lane tomorrow, in a match which could go a long way in deciding the destiny of the two promotion favourites. Victory for United would put the league leaders under increasing pressure and send a message to the chasing pack that the Blades have what it takes for promotion. Alan Quinn returns after suspension for United. Paul Thirlwell, Ashley Ward, Danny Cadamarteri and Simon Francis could all play some part in the match. David Unsworth set to make his debut for the Tractor Boys after joining on loan from Portsmouth until the end of the season. Unsworth replaces striker Pablo Counago and could come in at left-back for Daniel Karbassiyoon. Defender Drissa Diallo is still out injured with a hamstring problem.

1st February Neil Warnock says he is thrilled his side have been drawn to play Arsenal at Highbury in the FA Cup. The Blades must first overcome West Ham in a fourth-round replay, having held the Hammers to a 1-1 draw at Upton Park on Saturday. He commented: "I think both ourselves and West Ham will be absolutely delighted, When I was speaking to [West Ham boss] Alan Pardew after the match on Saturday we both agreed we could do with a massive draw. Well they don't come bigger than Arsenal - it's great for our supporters, it generates the interest and it gets the income in. West Ham no doubt feel the same and there's no better incentive for both clubs ahead of the replay at our place."