Sheffield United are in talks with Fulham over the possibility of extending defender Toni Kallio's loan spell at Bramall Lane. Blackwell told the club's official website: "We are currently speaking to (Fulham boss) Roy Hodgson about extending the deal because we cannot take out a new one in the New Year.

"Toni has had a stop-start period with us - through no fault of his own - but he came back into the side at QPR and did really well for us."

But Blackwell accepts he could face a tough battle on his hands to secure the deal.

He added: "With Fulham having qualified for the Europa League knockout stages and the FA Cup starting shortly, it might mean that Roy wants to make sure that he has a larger squad available."