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BLACKWELL TAKES HEART FROM RECOVERY

BLACKWELL TAKES HEART FROM RECOVERY

Blackwell - rode his luck.

Sheffield United boss Kevin Blackwell admitted his side got out of jail after the Blades scraped into the third round of the Carling Cup with a 2-1 win at Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield.

The Coca-Cola League One Terriers were good value for their one-goal lead and wasted numerous chances to build on Mike Flynn's first-half opener.

But late goals from Darius Henderson - his first for the club - and substitute Kyle Naughton within two minutes spared the blushes of the Championship side and put them in the hat for Saturday's draw.

Blackwell said: "Huddersfield will quite rightly take the plaudits but United take the result and that's what matters.

"When you look at the results that have been going on in the Carling Cup, there are a lot of big sides out of it.

"I warned the lads before the game that if we lost the game it was because we weren't good enough but thankfully we managed to pull it out of the fire, but for spells I have to say Huddersfield dominated the game.

"You try to warn players that if you psychologically go out there and think that because you are supposedly a bigger club with better players that you've just got to turn up, but you can't."

Blackwell praised his side's attitude to force their way back into the game, with the 82nd and 83rd-minute goals coming soon after Blackwell threw on striker Billy Sharp and switched to a three-man attack.

"There's a belief about the boys and although we were losing we wanted to be positive," added the former Huddersfield goalkeeper.

"I threw three strikers on, four across the middle and three at the back, and it's come up trumps."

Blackwell also defended his team selection, which saw him make seven changes to the team that beat Blackpool last weekend.

He explained: "I wanted to give certain players a rest and I didn't want to use anybody that I want to use on Saturday.<"I thought Billy would give us a bit more of an edge and it forced Huddersfield right on to the back foot.

"Sometimes if you can't play well it's about getting results and that's four wins on the trot. Winning is winning, no matter how you do it, and there's a lot of clubs would like to be in our position and in the hat on Saturday.

"Huddersfield could go out there and play, and if it came off, great, and if it didn't, nobody is going to moan. We've got to handle being the bigger club with more pressure and I think overall lessons have been learned."

Huddersfield manager Stan Ternent admitted his side's failure to turn their dominance into a second goal was decisive.

Nathan Clarke put two headers wide from good positions while Gary Roberts and Luke Beckett both threatened to double the home side's advantage.

He said: "The only thing we didn't do, if I'm going to be critical, was get the second goal when we had the opportunities.

"I thought we played really well and gave it a good go but we're not getting any breaks at the moment.

"We have to be more clinical and have a little bit more quality on the end and that kills the game.

"They played extremely well and I'm very happy with them, but extremely disappointed for them as well because I know they deserved more out of the game."