WARNE CURSES BAD LUCK AS REF GIVES SWANS A HAND
CHRIS WILDER predicted a nerve-shredding finale to the promotion race after Sheffield United piled the pressure back on Leeds.
The Blades made hard work of seeing off 10-man Nottingham Forest – but held their nerve to seal a first win in three thanks to second-half goals from Mark Duffy and Enda Stevens.
With the added bonus of
Leeds being shocked by
Wigan later in the day, the
Blades moved back into the automatic positions with three games left.
Daniel Farke’s Championship leaders Norwich could have sealed promotion had United lost – but the Canaries’ coronation will have to wait.
Boss Wilder (above) backed his troops to handle the mounting tension in their final three games – starting with the Easter Monday trip to Hull. He said: “Everybody’s after that special prize and every game will be tight now.
“We were missing players but the
SWANSEA
Mcburnie 36, 79, Mckay 50, Byers 69
ROTHERHAM
lads did their talking out on the pitch. That’s 82 points we’ve got.
“The core of this group has been with us since League One so it’s a great achievement and I don’t think we’re done yet. We’ve had a couple of disappointing results but we came roaring back.
“If any team ends up topping our total, then they deserve to go up. “I want us to make it as big a total as possible, and one that a team has got to do well to get past.
“We are not going to hand it over or let it slip by, and I don’t think we will in the next three games.” After a lacklustre first half led to mounting frustration in the home stands, the contest swung in United’s favour in the space of four minutes straight after the restart.
First Yohan Benalouane earned a straight red for hacking down David Mcgoldrick as the former Forest forward bore down on goal.
Costel Pantilimon kept out John Fleck’s resulting free-kick, but the 10 men were soon behind as they failed to clear Oliver Norwood’s Ihiekwe 10, Crooks 38, Vaulks 83
4 3
51st-minute cross, allowing Duffy to control before curling a sublime sixth goal of the season into the top corner from 15 yards.
The Blades had to wait until five minutes from time for the nervesettling second – Stevens sprinting 70 yards to round-off a flowing counter-attack from a narrow angle as the marauding wing-back latched onto Mcgoldrick’s pass.
Four straight defeats is mid-table Forest’s worst run for more than two years, leaving boss Martin O’neill with plenty of work to overhaul his squad this summer.
They are without an away win for five months, and the Irishman said: “It’s important for us to stop this run and get some momentum. I’m three months into a tough job, but I came into it with my eyes open.” goal which was awarded to George Byers. His strike appeared to go in off Kyle Naughton and the visitors screamed for handball, but referee Keith Stroud was not interested.
Rotherham remain in the Championship’s bottom three and are now favourites to join Bolton and Ipswich back in League One.
“I’ve had better days,” Warne (left) said. “I thought it was a handball. We’ve had some bad luck this season, but I’ve never seen my players react like they did. I don’t know if we’ll survive, but we have to win all three of our final games.”
Michael Ihiekwe opened the scoring for the Millers, but Oli Mcburnie drew Swansea level. Matt Crooks’ smart half-volley sent Rotherham to the break ahead.
Barrie Mckay headed home to make it 2-2 before Byers put the Swans ahead for the first time.
Mcburnie made it 4-2 with a cool finish, but there was still time for late drama as Will Vaulks grabbed Rotherham’s third. Keeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt saved brilliantly from Michael Smith late on. “Kris has had to save us,” said Swans boss Graham Potter.