Going up against Warnock will be fun

Blackwell will get no favours from his old mentor at Palace today but the Blades can still reach the promised land

When Sheffield United agreed to sell their top-scorer James Beattie to Stoke City for £3.5m back in January, the reaction from the supporters was as predictable as it was understandable. The Blades, most concluded, had sold their chances of promotion down the river.

But it hasn't turned out that way. Should they beat Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park today, and Birmingham fail to win at Reading, United will be back in the Premier League. You could argue, and many regulars do, that had they retained Beattie's services, automatic promotion would have already been secured, but seated in his office at the club's Shirecliffe training ground last week, manager Kevin Blackwell insisted it was a financial gamble that the board was not willing to take.

"No one's pleased to lose their top scorer, but Beatts leaving was part of a restructuring process that's been going on since before the season started," said Blackwell. "The chairman [Kevin McCabe] has been predicting a massive downturn in the economy for maybe two years, and I was told I had to make sure that if we got to the end of the season and didn't get promoted, to bear in mind we'd be losing the parachute payment of £9m, £10m, whatever it is, but about half the club's income.

"We've seen clubs start to restructure only when the money's gone, and by then it's too late. The wage bill had to come down, which meant the likes of Jonathan Stead, Michael Tonge, Rob Hulse, Luke Shelton and then Beatts all had to go. And everybody wrote us off."

Since the striker's departure, however, United have barely missed a beat. In terms of points per game, they have actually improved. The key, according to Blackwell, was that he was still able to freshen up the squad, bringing in the likes of wide midfielder Jamie Ward, a bargain £333,000 from Chesterfield, as well as loanees Arturo Lupoli, Craig Beattie and John-Joe O'Toole.

"At times in the past, at places like Leeds and Luton, I've had to let players go without bringing in replacements, and that doesn't just restrict your options, it eats away at the confidence of the players who remain," said Blackwell.

"That hasn't happened here. When Beatts went, Ward and Lupoli arrived, and while they're very different players, it did mean we could try new things. The players saw that, and it sort of kept the belief going. We weren't just cutting, cutting, cutting, we kept good players coming in, and they realised we were still giving it a go as much as we could."

He believes there has also been a feeling that the players wanted to prove United were not just about one man. "It's nothing personal – Beatts was a popular guy in the dressing room – but maybe it did pull everyone together. A team ethic can do it for you against a group of individuals.

"I have a lot of players here with a fantastic work ethic, and not only has it given us a good chance of going up, I think it would stand us in good stead if we were lucky enough to get promoted. Of course we'd have to strengthen in some areas, but I'd like to think the nucleus is there."

One of those areas has to be up front, but it seems unfair to suggest that in the event of them going up, United may end up paying more than £3.5m to get a striker as capable of scoring at the top level as regularly as Beattie has for Stoke. Besides, Blackwell is emphatically not inclined to look beyond today's game. Having been within 90 minutes of the Premier League before, with Leeds, and seen it all go horribly wrong, anything more smacks of tempting fate.

Nor, inevitably, is he prepared to smile at the irony of today's match being against a team managed by Neil Warnock, a man with whom both Sheffield United and Blackwell himself will always be associated. After 17 years working together, the pair fell out when Blackwell resigned as Warnock's assistant at Sheffield United to take over as manager at Leeds. Judging by Blackwell's constant use of his former mentor's surname, the rift has yet to be healed.

"The fact it's Neil Warnock and he'll be trying everything he can to make sure we don't win is immaterial to me, I've got to concentrate on beating a good Crystal Palace side on their own ground," said Blackwell.

"Some have said that because of his connections with the club, Neil Warnock wouldn't be too unhappy if we won, but not only does it not work that way in football, I don't think Neil Warnock would particularly enjoy it if he saw me take them up anyway."

The ups and downs

At the top...

If Birmingham City beat Reading, they will get the second automatic promotion place behind champions Wolves, whatever the result of the match between Crystal Palace and Sheffield United.

If Reading beat Birmingham, and Sheffield United draw or lose at Crystal Palace, Reading will go up.

If Birmingham draw or lose, and Sheffield United beat Crystal Palace, United will go up. The two teams which miss out on automatic promotion join two from Cardiff, Burnley and Preston in the play-offs. A point would be enough for Cardiff. Preston must beat QPR and hope that either Sheffield Wednesday beat Cardiff or Burnley don't beat Bristol City at Turf Moor.

At the bottom...

Even if Norwich win at Charlton, a point for Barnsley at Plymouth will ensure that the Canaries join Southampton and Charlton in League One next season.