Blades’ statement of intent for Cats trip
Sheffield United will visit the Stadium of Light in confident mood when the Championship resumes on September 9.
The League One champions climbed to fifth place in the fledgling table with a third win of the season, beating Derby 3-1 at Bramall Lane on Saturday, with Sunderland up next for Chris Wilder’s men.
A brace from captain Billy Sharp and a Johnny Russell own goal did the damage.
Wilder said: “You want to marry a good performance with a decent result, and I believe we’ve had both.
“This was our biggest test at home this season, against quality opposition and a quality manager, and I’m delighted that we’ve played well and won. We’re a learning club, our players areadaptingtothedivision – but I think we’ve made a decent start.
“We aren’t getting ahead of ourselves – it’s one game – but this is a great result for us. “We can say that we aren’t here just to make the numbers up or be the whipping boys, and any team that plays us, especially here, is going to have to do a lot of things very, very well to get a result against us.” Leeds followed up their win at Sunderland by triumphing 2-0 at Nottingham Forest.
Kemar Roofe headed the opening goal and Ezgjan Alioski’s late strike secured a third away victory, lifting Leeds to third behind Cardiff, who have won five out of five, and Mick McCarthy’s Ipswich, who suffered a first defeat, going down 2-0 to Fulham.
Leeds boss Thomas Christiansen said: “This could probably be our best game so far. Tactically we neutralised a very good side.”