BRAMALL STOKER
Duffy: Our full-throttle game can scare big teams
MARK DUFFY reckons Sheffield United’s fullthrottle approach can rock the Championship’s top teams this season.
Last season’s League One title winners revved up with a spiky South Yorkshire derby win that ended with both sides reduced to 10 men.
And Duffy believes the Blades’ free-flowing football will wreak havoc on lots of defences.
The midfielder said: “We took the hand brake off against Barnsley and went for them. Full throttle.
“That’s the way we play and that’s how we won the league below last season. It will be hard for teams to keep up with us when we play like that.
“We’ll try and surprise teams, who are not really expecting it, and beat them that way.
“Most Championship teams play side to side, but we like to overload with bodies everywhere. That will confuse a lot of sides with the quality we have.” Striker Billy Sharp’s second goal of the season helped Chris Wilder’s side to a successive home win, but Duffy believes there could have been more damage done.
He added: “If myself, Sharpy and a few others were more clinical, we would have beaten Barnsley 3-0. Home form is massively important for us in this league.
“If we can make Bramall Lane our fortress, nobody will like coming here.”
Both sides saw red before half-time when Blades star Leon Clarke and Barnsley captain Angus MacDonald bumped heads after a heated clash and were sent off.
“It just looked like a coming together to me,” said Duffy. “In a derby, sometimes tensions get the better of you. I thought the ref could have given both yellows, to be fair.”