Dressing room inquest has helped Sheffield United lay foundation for top six finish

When Sheffield United faced Nottingham Forest at the City Ground earlier in the season, the away dressing room at full-time was not one for the faint-hearted. An 83rd-minute Lewis Grabban equaliser had denied the visitors a much-needed three points after Morgan Gibbs-White had steered them into the driving seat with the opening goal just five minutes earlier.

Chris Basham faced the media afterwards and revealed how a heated inquest had taken place about the conceding of late goals and how that was in stark contrast to the last time they were in the Championship during the 18-19 promotion-winning campaign. Back then, a sound defence laid the foundation for a second-placed finish and Basham was clear on how vital it was United rediscovered that if they were to make an instant return to the top flight.

"There was a bit of an argument in there in the dressing room after the game about not keeping a clean sheet," he said following the 1-1 draw against Steve Cooper's men in November. "We are all striving for the same thing and all wanting to perform and get points on the board because we all want to go in the right direction.

"The lads were just disappointed we conceded again in the last 15 and we need to put that right and put teams to bed. The season we got promoted, we kept 21 clean sheets and we've all said that's what we need to start doing, getting back to that and keeping those clean sheets."

A change to a back three has been the key reason behind the transformation, but fast forward to their latest shut-out against QPR last night and United have conceded just 18 goals in the 24 matches since then. They have also kept 14 clean sheets in that time, having kept just three prior to that Forest fixture and having shipped