SHEFFIELD United manager Nigel Clough believes Swindon Town are one of the best footballing sides in League One.

The Blades boss brings his in-form team to the County Ground today looking to extend their unbeaten run to eight games. Though Clough knows to do so they will have to negate Town’s passing game.

His side are not bad at playing the ball on the deck themselves, as they showed in their dramatic comeback at Colchester last Tuesday. Despite scoring three goals in six minutes Sheffield continued to stick to their footballing principles, when perhaps resorting to the long ball would have been the easy option.

With two such footballing-inclined teams it should produce an entertaining game and Clough knows should his team make a mistake Mark Cooper’s men will punish them.

“Swindon are probably one of the best footballing teams in the division,” said the Brammall Lane chief.

“They have been together for a long times and it shows. The same as it does for two of those who have come up, Chesterfield and Rochdale, because there's a good solidity and understanding there. They are playing with confidence.

“We are on a good run too. We didn't play as well as we would have liked the other night but we came through which is a good habit to have. We've highlighted areas where we need to improve though and we've been working on those. But we scored goals. We showed we can do that. If we don't improve on those areas, though, then a team like Swindon is more likely, with respect, to punish you.”

The two sides are currently separated by a lone point and Clough expects the top of the division to remain largely unchanged until the end of the season.

“There's very little between everyone at the top right now, except Bristol City who have had a flying start,” he added.

“After 10 or 12 games, the teams who are in and around the top six tend to be the ones who go on to challenge. We are in that position at the moment and we want to stay there. But, like I say, it's really tight. At Colchester I was told that, at one stage of the evening, we were in 14th and then finished up in sixth. That says it all really.”

United’s trio of doubts for today’s game, Jose Baxter (hamstring), Jamal Campbell-Ryce (calf) and Jamie Murphy (dead leg), are set to be assessed before the team travel to Wiltshire.