LUKE Williams is all too aware of the impression Bramall Lane can leave on a player but hopes that his troops are ready to stand up and be counted at Sheffield United on Saturday.

When they arrive at the Blades’ famous 32,000-plus capacity base, Swindon Town will be performing on arguably the grandest stage outside the top two divisions of English football but they have had some success in South Yorkshire in recent years, drawing 1-1 in the corresponding fixture last term and winning 2-1 in United’s back yard en route to the play-off final the year before.

For Williams, there can be no downplaying the magnitude of Bramall Lane but is aiming for Swindon to put everything that surrounds such a trip to one side.

“Michael Doughty played his first game for us away at Sheffield United last season and he was so impressed that we had a conversation in the changing rooms about 10 minutes after the final whistle where he asked me could he extend his loan until the end of the season, such was the impression Bramall Lane had left on him,” said the Town head coach.

“Players can go there and really put in a performance that can make you sit up and take notice.

“It’s one of the games that we really look forward to because you’re aware that you’re at a big club and everything is top-notch there from the moment you walk in.

“It’s a great place to go, a great atmosphere – we all love when the fans sing the Sheffield United song before kick-off.

“The boys that got an opportunity to play on Tuesday night (against Luton Town in the Checkatrade Trophy); there was only 1500 people here but it was a competitive game and now they’ve got to go and reproduce that against a much bigger club with a bigger atmosphere, so that’s a question mark to the young players – can you step up and perform on that stage as well?

“I think we’ll make the players aware of the threat but more importantly, it will be about making sure that we do our bit as well as we possibly can and see where that takes us, rather than worrying about the opposition.

“I think, more importantly, that’s what Tim (Sherwood) has set out for the squad, that we’re not going to look too much at the opposition. We’re going to look far more at ourselves and we all need to take the mindset from Tim.”