Ahead Of The Game - Steel Yourself

AFTER a heartbreaking late equaliser by York City ended Argyle’s winning run at Home Park...

...attention for John Sheridan’s men now turns to the FA Cup and the trip to Bramall Lane to take on Nigel Clough’s Sheffield United in our second round tie, on Saturday.

Tickets for the game in the Steel City are, well, a bit of a steal – go here for more details.  

The Pilgrims made it to the second round of the competition with a 2-0 home victory over AFC Fylde, with goals from Peter Hartley and Marvin Morgan enough to see off the non-leaguers. Sheffield United booked their place in the round with a 2-0 win over Crewe Alexandra at the second attempt – with the fixture being forced into a replay after the two sides were deadlocked at the Alexandra Stadium.

Bobby Reid, who returned to Argyle last week and scored Argyle’s goal against York, does not have permission to play at Brammall Lane, but the Greens will go into the game looking to topple the Sky Bet League 1 side and book their place in the third round of the prestigious competition.

Prior to the meeting of the Pilgrims and the Blades, Sheffield will first have to take on fellow promotion chasers MK Dons, on Tuesday, with the latter winning 6-0 against Colchester on the weekend, while United had to settle with a point as a 76th-minute Jamie Murphy strike rescued them against Notts County.

Either way it will be a tough test for Argyle, who have failed to beat Sheffield in their last five attempts, and it will be made even harder by the fact that Nigel Clough’s side have reason to be confident in the competition. The Blades made the semi-finals last season, losing a thrilling encounter with Hull City 5-3 at Wembley.

This will be the first meeting between the Argyle and United since our Championship days.  Last time we met, in February 2010, United came out on top in another cracker. The game ended 4-3, with goals from former Pilgrims Yannick Bolasie, Joe Mason and Jamie Mackie proving to be not quite enough on the day.