9th August Hartlepool United 1 Sheffield United 1 (Sheff Utd won 4-3 on pens) (Attendance: 2,774)

Blades Line-up: Simonsen, Lowton, Jean-Francois, Montgomery, Mendez-Laing (Slew 64), Doyle (Philliskirk 112), Williamson (McAllister 81), Collins, Cresswell, Maguire, Quinn.

Subs Not Used: Harriott, Conneely, Tonne, Long.
Booked: Jean-Francois 38, Lowton 41, Williamson 90.

Scorers: Quinn 29..

Man of The Match: Richard Cresswell.

Hartlepool Line-up: Flinders, Austin, Collins, Hartley, Horwood, Solano (Luscombe 68), Liddle (Murray 78), Sweeney, Monkhouse, Nish, Boyd (Poole 64).

Subs Not Used: Humphreys, Haslam, Baldwin, Rafferty.

Scorer: Sweeney 80.

Referee: Paul Tierney (Lancashire)

Danny Philliskirk was the Sheffield United hero as he scored the winning penalty in a League Cup shoot-out against Hartlepool.

The game finished 1-1 after extra time, with Antony Sweeney cancelling out Stephen Quinn's opener.

And after skipper Sam Collins saw his spot-kick saved, youngster Philliskirk converted to send the Blades through after a 4-3 shoot-out success.

The Blades opened the scoring after 29 minutes when Nathaniel Mendez-Laing crossed for Quinn to head past Scott Flinders.

Flinders pulled off a superb save to deny Richard Cresswell, while Nolberto Solano should have scored from six yards but Simonsen tipped the ball around the post on the stroke of half-time.

Mendez-Laing curled the ball against the crossbar from 18 yards after 55 minutes, while the same player was denied by Flinders moments later.

Pools snatched an equaliser with 10 minutes remaining when sub Nathan Luscombe's perfectly weighted pass set Sweeney clear and he lashed the ball into the roof of the net.

Sweeney limped out of the action after 86 minutes, meaning Hartlepool, having used all three subs, had to play extra-time with 10 men - who held on but failed in the shoot-out. source: Teamtalk

Blades Player Performance Ratings v. Hartlepool: Simonsen, Lowton, Jean-Francois, Montgomery, Mendez-Laing (Slew 64), Doyle (Philliskirk 112), Williamson (McAllister 81), Collins, Cresswell, Maguire, Quinn.

6th August Oldham Athletic 0 Sheffield United 2 (Attendance: 8,032)

Blades Line-up: Simonsen, Lowton, Jean-Francois, Collins, McGuire, Flynn (Williamson 73), Doyle, Montgomery, Quinn, Porter (Bogdanovic 78), Cresswell.

Subs Not Used: Aksalu, Long, Mendez-Laing, Slew.
Booked: Jean-Francois 38, Lowton 41, Williamson 90.

Scorers: McGuire 48, Cresswell 54.

Man of The Match: Richard Cresswell.

Oldham Line-up: Cisak, Lee, Diamond, M'voto, Black, Winchester (Millar 66), Furman, Lund, Taylor, Reid (Parker 60), Smith.

Subs Not Used: Gerrard, Brooke, Mellor.

Referee: Darren Drysdale (Lincolnshire).

Danny Wilson enjoyed the perfect start to his Sheffield United managerial career as the Blades secured a 2-0 win at Oldham.
United lined up in a 4-4-2 formation with new signing Chris Porter and Richard Cresswell in attack and the other new signings Lecsinel  Jean- Francois in the defence and Ryan Flynn on the wing. Latics manager Paul Dickov selected Carl Winchester to replace the suspended Filipe Morais in his midfield.
After what had seemed like an eternity waiting for the new season to arrive, the match kicked off with 3,597 Blades fans – that’s almost half the overall attendance inside Boundary Park.
The home side started the brightest when Reuben Reid was unable to latch onto the ball after a dribbling run from Winchester. The Blades began to settle and control proceedings, a header from Neill Collins was comfortably saved by goalkeeper Alex Cisak and, after some pressure on the left the ball was cleared by Latics defender Zander Diamond straight to left-back Jean- Francois, who fired just over from about 25 yards out. Then, the home side had a couple of chances Jean-Yves M'voto headed over Matthew Lund 's cross and Chris Taylor under pressure from Nick Montgomery blasted over. Late in the half Oldham had two chances of note, firstly when Matt Smith could only direct a header straight at goalkeeper Steve Simonsen  and then attacking midfielder Taylor made an storming run which was followed by a shot which skimmed over the crossbar.
At the start of the second half United grabbed the lead when a corner from Stephen Quinn was met by Maguire after easily out jumping a statuesque M’voto and heading into the far corner of the net. The players led by Maguire celebrated with the Unitedites behind the goal.
The second goal followed just six minutes later when Quinn crossed from the left and Cresswell siding in, managed to get there before Dean Furman and poke the ball past the keeper who had no chance. The Latics brought on Josh Parker and Kirk Millar for Reid and Winchester as they attempted to make their way back into the game.
The home side had their best chance to reduce the deficit when Diamond flicked Smith's header just over the bar from in front of goal. Wilson brought on Lee Williamson for Flynn on the right and Daniel Bogdanovic for Porter. Matthew Lowton did well supplying Creswell who shot just wide, and Oldham went close again soon after when M'Voto saw a goal bound header cleared off the line by right-back Lowton.
Late on, Williamson’s effort went just wide after a neat one-two with Bogdanovic. Overall a excellent workman like performance, with some solid defending and the Blades always looking dangerous up front.

Blades Player Performance Ratings v. Oldham: Simonsen 6, Lowton 7, Jean-Francois 7, Collins 7, McGuire 8, Flynn 6, Williamson 6, Doyle 7, Montgomery 7, Quinn 6, Porter 7, Bogdanovic 7, Cresswell 8.