NIGEL Clough was delighted his Sheffield United side prevented Swindon Town from scoring during the Blades’ 1-0 victory at Bramall Lane on Saturday.

United boss Clough was fully expecting the visitors to field a defensive formation, and so it proved with his opposite number Mark Cooper again opting for a 4-6-0 for at least the first hour of the clash.

However, the home side eventually broke down the Robins’ resistance, with Jose Baxter netting the winning goal in the 67th minute, much to the delight of his manager.

“We tried to play wide and get on the front foot.

“The idea was to keep going and keep the pressure on them and eventually something will break.

“In the end Jose’s popped up with a vital goal for us.

“It’s a very good goal,” said Clough.

“It might look scrappy but it’s a great header.

“In spells I thought we played good football.

“You want to sustain that for longer.

“We were playing against a very good side, one of the top scorers in the league, and I think we restricted them to a couple of long-range efforts and that’s about it.

“You have to persevere and keep the pressure on them until the break because they’re not going to come out at you until you score that goal.

“In the last 15 minutes they had to change the way they played.

“I think they came contented with a 0-0 today, the goalkeeper took an awful lot of time with the ball on occasions, but once you get that break then it changes and it’s us hanging on in the end.

“Our performance was good in parts.

“We just wanted the lads to be a little positive.

“I thought we started the game well, lost our way at the end of the first half but came out in the second half very positive and deserved the win.”