Steve Davis gives us his post-match reaction from Bramall Lane following 3-2 defeat.
Steve Davis was left hugely disappointed as his spirited Crewe Alexandra side fought back from two goals down to level things up in the final ten minutes, but then left Sheffield empty handed after Billy Sharp's late headed winner. Crewe improved greatly in the second half and deservedly drew level thanks to goals from David Fox and Captain Harry Davis, but a well worked move from the Blades saw sub Louis Reed cross for Sharp to head home a dramatic winner.
After the 3-2 defeat, Steve told the club's official web-site: "It was two very different halves from us. We tired hard to match them up with having the extra man at the back but we couldn't do that. I take responsibility for that because I thought we could do that but we didn't adjust. We couldn't get the ball up the pitch and keep it there. The two forwards were not having much joy and I didn't think we looked like scoring a goal playing like that.
"We needed to change it and we tried to communicate that over in the first half out on the pitch but we altered it at half time. We brought Billy on and sacrificed Ben. It could have been any of them at the back but we needed mobility rather than height and that is why we changed that.
"We remained really positive in the second half and left the three up there. We had to take risks and gambled a bit but I thought we were terrific in the second half. Our midfield started to dictate the play more and we created a number of chances. There were blocks and the keeper has made some saves. The tempo was good and we were finding the three up there a lot better. Charlie was getting in those little pockets of space and Brad was running in behind the centre-halves and got into one-one-one situations. We were much better.
"We started well but then conceded a really untidy second goal. It was too easy. We should have dealt with that better but we kept going and Foxy got us back into it with a terrific strike. We could sense that the crowd was getting nervous and we felt we could go again. We really sensed it when it went to 2-2. With the time we had left, I thought we could go on and win it and certainly not lose it. We were caught in two minds a bit but we wanted to win the game.
"We then switched off again for the winning goal. They have left Sharp and he has headed it in right in front of the goal. We switched off in the second phase from the corner and that was disappointing. That about summed up nine or ten of our games this season."
After the 3-2 defeat, Steve told the club's official web-site: "It was two very different halves from us. We tired hard to match them up with having the extra man at the back but we couldn't do that. I take responsibility for that because I thought we could do that but we didn't adjust. We couldn't get the ball up the pitch and keep it there. The two forwards were not having much joy and I didn't think we looked like scoring a goal playing like that.
"We needed to change it and we tried to communicate that over in the first half out on the pitch but we altered it at half time. We brought Billy on and sacrificed Ben. It could have been any of them at the back but we needed mobility rather than height and that is why we changed that.
"We remained really positive in the second half and left the three up there. We had to take risks and gambled a bit but I thought we were terrific in the second half. Our midfield started to dictate the play more and we created a number of chances. There were blocks and the keeper has made some saves. The tempo was good and we were finding the three up there a lot better. Charlie was getting in those little pockets of space and Brad was running in behind the centre-halves and got into one-one-one situations. We were much better.
"We started well but then conceded a really untidy second goal. It was too easy. We should have dealt with that better but we kept going and Foxy got us back into it with a terrific strike. We could sense that the crowd was getting nervous and we felt we could go again. We really sensed it when it went to 2-2. With the time we had left, I thought we could go on and win it and certainly not lose it. We were caught in two minds a bit but we wanted to win the game.
"We then switched off again for the winning goal. They have left Sharp and he has headed it in right in front of the goal. We switched off in the second phase from the corner and that was disappointing. That about summed up nine or ten of our games this season."