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Prior to this campaign, Sheffield United goalkeeper, Wes Foderingham had made one appearance for the Blades having joined from Rangers in July 2020.
Despite constant links to Arsenal, Aaron Ramsdale was still at Bramall Lane by the time the season started, playing against Birmingham City and Swansea City before the Englishman’s move to North London was confirmed.
However, initially, Foderingham was not called upon with Michael Verrips getting the nod to play the following game against West Brom Albion whilst the Blades searched for a new first choice.
The Dutchman had a poor evening in the West Midlands and subsequently joined Eredivisie outfit Fortuna Sittard on loan with his 31-year-old colleague getting an opportunity for the coming games.
The former Fulham youth player was in between the sticks for a defeat to Huddersfield Town, a draw against Luton Town and a thumping 6-2 triumph over Peterborough United before Robin Olsen joined on loan from Roma.
However, the Sweden international failed to win over many supporters, keeping one clean sheet in 11 appearances for the Blades as Slavisa Jokanovic struggled in the opening months of his tenure in South Yorkshire.
The last time Sheffield United faced Blackburn Rovers was certainly a turning point, with the 3-1 defeat at Ewood Park being the last time the 32-year-old played for the Blades who has since terminated his loan spell and joined Premier League side Aston Villa on a temporary basis.
Foderingham was given the nod by Jokanovic just before the Serbian was dismissed and replaced by former interim manager Paul Heckingbottom and the goalkeeper has been excellent since.
Fast forward to Wednesday night’s meeting with Blackburn Rovers, the Englishman had kept 10 clean sheets in the 14 appearances made since being reinstated in between the sticks going into the Blades’ home clash with the Lancashire outfit as both sides eye a play-off spot.
Despite a poor run of one win in six league games, Blackburn were still third whilst United were seventh with a victory enough to see them return into the top six.
On a cold February night in South Yorkshire, both sides battled with the hosts having the best chance of the first half as Billy Sharp headed wide from close distance.
The two outfits were compact with neither set of forwards getting many chances close to goal.
However, when Sheffield United full debutant Charlie Goode, on loan from Brentford, lunged in on Reda Khadra and received a straight red card in the 66th minute, it looked as though there would only be one winner.
That claim was further supported when the winger broke into the Blades’ area and saw his cross slapped away by John Egan on the Irishman’s 150th appearance for the hosts as the referee pointed to the spot.
With his 11th clean sheet in 15 matches insight, Foderingham was not going to be beaten easily and the Englishman subsequently denied Khadra from the spot, igniting a roar of noise amongst the Bramall Lane faithful.
As the clash looked set for an entertaining goalless stalemate, the Blades left their steeliest moment of the evening for the final minutes as substitute Ben Davies, who had been on the pitch for four minutes, capitalised on poor goalkeeping from Rovers shot-stopper Thomas Kaminski to secure a dramatic 1-0 victory for the hosts.
An 11th clean sheet in 15 matches, arguably his most hard-fought, left Foderingham with the Man of the Match award as United returned to sixth place.
— Sheffield United (@SheffieldUnited) February 23, 2022
With 14 matches to go, Heckingbottom’s side are certainly looking up the table, however, automatic promotion may be too far away with second-place Bournemouth having two games in hand on the Blades.
With that being said, just three points separate third-place Queens Park Rangers and United in sixth with the Hoops having played one game more.
After a rocky start, it is certainly going to be a fascinating conclusion to the campaign for Sheffield United.
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