Sheffield United boss Kevin Blackwell has been explaining to his loan players exactly what a Steel City derby is all about. The likes of goalkeeper Steve Simonsen, defenders Paul Connolly, Nyron Nosworthy, Kyle Bartley and Marcel Seip and wingers Mark Yeates and Glenn Little, who all featured in the squad last week, have never experienced a Steel City derby before.

Blackwell said: "Motivation should never be a problem but our build-up is about getting a lot of the players who are unfamiliar with Steel City derbies to understand just what they mean to people in Sheffield - because they just will not have a clue.

"These games really matter and last season many Owls supporters saw their season as a success just because they beat us twice, even though we came within a whisker of promotion.

"That's why this is our biggest game of the season. We know the consequences that could ride on the result and our players will have been reminded what it will mean to families on both sides of the city divide who won't even want to walk out of their front door to face people if their favourites lose."