In-form Blackburn beat promotion rivals Blades

Blackburn edged to a narrow victory over fellow Championship promotion hopefuls Sheffield United in an exciting encounter.

Chris Basham should have done better for the Blades but scuffed his effort after a mazy dribble past three Rovers defenders and Tyrhys Dolan’s fierce shot hit the outside of the post as the hosts then looked to double their advantage before the break.

Sammie Szmodics came close to a second for Rovers when his fine curled shot from 25 yards hit the crossbar and they deservedly held on for what could prove to be a huge win in the race for the Premier League.

A fourth straight victory for Blackburn saw them move up to third in the table, six points behind the second-placed Blades, albeit having played a game more.

The two sides meet again at Bramall Lane in two weeks time in the FA Cup quarter-finals after both recorded victories over Premier League sides in the fifth round in midweek.

Paul Heckingbottom made eight changes to the XI that started the 1-0 win over Tottenham on Wednesday, but his side fell behind early on to a superbly executed counter-attack.

The Blades saw a shot blocked in the area after a corner and Blackburn played the ball out of trouble and raced up the pitch before Dolan showed composure to come inside and play in the overlapping Pickering to drill in his first goal of the season.

United enjoyed the lion’s share of possession until the break but Basham’s miscued effort aside, did not open the home defence up.

Rovers, who made just two alterations from the win at Leicester on Tuesday, stepped it up after the break and John Buckley should have done better when he blazed over from 20 yards out.

The Blades – who have now lost three of their past four in the league – struggled to create anything of note in a tempestuous second half that saw Basham incredibly fortunate to escape a red card for a poorly-timed tackle on Pickering.

They will look to return to winning ways when they host another top-six hopeful, Luton, next Saturday, while Jon Dahl Tomasson’s Rovers visit lowly Stoke on Friday.