We showed resilience and character - Johnson

Saturday, December 9th 2017

Lee Johnson says his City side showed resilience and character to leave Bramall Lane with all three points on Friday night.

Jamie Paterson's first-half strike gave City the lead, albeit against the run of play, before Leon Clarke added his 14th goal of the season to equalise for Sheffield United just after the interval.

The home side struck the woodwork four times in the Sky televised contest but had John Fleck sent off for a challenge on Korey Smith before Aden Flint popped up with a 90th minute winner.

City head coach Johnson admitted he did not see the winning goal clearly but he felt the emotions once he realised his players were celebrating with the ball in the back of the net.

He told BCTV: "I didn't really see it. I was a bit shocked and I had to check the boys' reaction and everybody was halfway up the touchline so it was a brilliant, amazing win in the end.

"It was a tough-old game. To come here, be as under pressure as we were for the first 45 minutes and to turn it into a win is just another sign that these boys have got that resilience and strength of character to try and carry on and stick in there when the chips are down."

FIGHTING BACK WHEN THE CHIPS ARE DOWN

ICON FLINT

"Flinty's a bit an icon isn't he, like Scotty Murray was. He's the top-scoring defender in the Championship at the moment which is great and you've got to keep going. We staved off interest over the summer, he's here and is doing very well.

"I'm really pleased with my players today because we could have crumbled. Sheffield United were very, very good in the first 45 minutes. They hit the post three times but we kept going, we stuck in there and we had good chances of our own in the end.

He added: "This is a big, tough place to come and we talked to the boys about the atmosphere, how to deal with it and they did that tonight."

SMITH INJURY

City central midfielder Smith left Bramall Lane on crutches after a crunching challenge from Fleck, who received a straight red card as a result of his tackle.

On Smith's injury, Johnson said: "He's got quite a big gash on his ankle. Hopefully it's just a but of bruising but he's struggling to put weight on it and we really can't afford a Korey Smith injury. Let's just pray that he's alright."