Blades player-coach Chris Morgan spoke to BBC Radio Sheffield and his club's official website ahead of his side's League One game against Carlisle at Brunton Park tomorrow afternoon, Morgan expecting a tough game :
“It is always a tough place to go, they have had some good results at home this year. I think they are a well balanced team, they have got some good professionals within their team and it will be a tough game. I think you are coming off the back of a tough game on Saturday against Hartlepool and then you have basically got a day to recover and then you are going again on Monday. So, that is going to be tough for us but that again is where the squad comes in to play. We feel prepared, we feel confident and at the minute I think the lads are just looking forward to every game.
“There is always someone that comes out of nowhere for the promotion places and if you are one of those clubs that is just on the edge of everything then you are probably looking thinking that everybody is talking about the five clubs that are there. I think to be honest if you were to ask most football supporters who follow this division at the beginning of the season, the likes of Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Huddersfield, MK Dons, Charlton would have been the names on the end of everybody’s tongue when you are talking about teams that should be up there.
“But, you have got Notts County who we saw on Tuesday, a well organised good team, Carlisle who we saw a couple of weeks ago, Brentford who are picking up good results. So, if you are one of those teams you would be quite happy sat there just trundling along in behind everybody. But, from our point of view we have worked hard to get ourselves in a good position and it is important from our point of view that we keep our own house in stock and that all we worry about is what goes on at our place. If we win our games and other results go for us then fine."
In team news for the Blades tomorrow afternoon they will first be missing Morgan himself who has been sidelined for a year now with a cruciate ligament injury, while pacey Wolves-loanee winger Nathaniel Mendez-Laing is absent due to a cartilage problem in his knee. At left-back Andy Taylor, who has been out since last season with a knee injury, is still on the fitness comeback trail and so will miss out, and at right-back Matt Lowton picked up a slight hamstring strain in Saturday’s 3-1 home win over Hartlepool, an injury likely to see the 22-year old unable to take part in the game at Brunton Park.
The Blades do though have veteran frontman Richard Cresswell and midfielder Stephen Quinn both back from five yellow card one match suspensions and available for selection after they saw those bans out in the Hartlepool match. While the visitors will also be able to call on left-back Marcus Williams, who was on loan at Bramall Lane until mid-December from Championship club Reading, Doncaster-born Williams today though having now signed permanently for the Blades on a free transfer two and a half year deal.
The referee for tomorrow's match is James Adcock from Long Eaton on the Derbyshire/Nottinghamshire border and he will be assisted down the lines by Chris Kavanagh from Ashton-under-Lyne in Greater Manchester and Billy Khatib from Sunderland. Meanwhile the fourth official is Matthew Bristow from Manchester.