By Mark Smith
Sheffield United welcome Bury to Bramall Lane on the back of an unbelievable run which has taken them to 2nd in League One.
Cast back to four games into the new season and the Blades were bottom of the table, but an unbeaten run of 13 has brought belief to the Yorkshire club.
Despite the incredible run, captain Billy Sharp believes it won’t affect the squad and their feet are firmly on the ground. With Sharp closing in on the league’s top scorer Josh Morris, he believes the team are fully behind him as captain. Sharp believes that the hours manager Chris Wilder is putting them through in training shows on match days.
Bury on the other hand, are currently on a miserable run of results and a trip to promotion-chasing United is definitely not what they wanted. Eight straight defeats has seen the Manchester club drop to 18th.
Striker Tom Pope told the BBC the club are crumbling under the pressure. Manager-less Bury will be hoping for a return to early season form which saw them 2nd at the end of September, but are now flirting with the relegation places.
Sheffield United’s last outing, a 2-1 win at home to Shrewsbury, came at a cost. Injuries to Mark Duffy, Kieron Freeman and Paul Coutts overshadowed the afternoon and Chris Wilder says the club will give them ‘every opportunity’ to be fit for the game against Bury.
CW: "All three might play. They might not. We'll give them every opportunity." #sufc #twitterblades #starlive
— James Shield (@JamesShield1) November 21, 2016
A 5-0 defeat in the FA Cup to Wimbledon showed fragility in the team spirit as an argument broke out on the pitch. Tom Soares and captain Anthony Kay exchanged words which led to Neil Danns having to break up the pair.
With the teams at different ends of the table, United will be looking to continue their strong run and challenge Scunthorpe for the top spot. A defeat here would top off a terrible week for Bury as their chairman resigned, leaving them out of form and out of money as they continue to fall down the table.