After a disappointing away defeat against Blackburn Rovers, Paul Heckingbottom and Sheffield United will be keen to steady the ship when they take on Paul Ince’s Reading.

The only player who will definitely miss out on the game against the Royals is Jack O’Connell, as he continues his arduous journey toward full fitness – he has been out of action for almost two and a half years.

Additionally, Will Osula and Ismaila Coulibaly are both doubts, after neither man made the squad for Sheffield United’s game against Blackburn on Saturday.

In that game, United fell to a 1-0 defeat after Rovers’ Harry Pickering scored an early goal. It was a feisty encounter in which Chris Basham was very lucky to have not seen red – in the end, the Blades couldn’t break down Blackburn’s resolute defence.

Reading, meanwhile, also lost at the weekend – but their game was nowhere near as close. They were given a complete annihilation at the hands of Michael Carrick’s Middlesbrough, losing by a wide score of 5-0 – the Royals couldn’t even muster a shot on target in response.

With this in mind, United will definitely enter this game as favourites – but Paul Ince’s men should not be overlooked, as they have sprung a few surprises this season. They’ve beaten the likes of Millwall, Middlesbrough and they also gave Manchester United a stern test in the FA Cup.

When the two teams met earlier in the season, the Blades thrashed Reading by a score of 4-0 – will they be able to repeat this feat?