Sheffield United 2 Bristol City 0: Blackwell buzzing at Blades win

For the Blades boss has seen his squad decimated by big-money departures and injuries and went into Saturday's game with Bristol City on the back of a four-match sequence which had harvested a single point.

The natives were getting restless as Premier League promotion aspirations were downgraded from automatic to play-off potential, so three points and a much-improved display from the Blades provided a welcome tonic for Blackwell.

But the United manager – who arrived back at the club as boss on February 14, 2008 – has warned United fans that they must accept the days of high-profile new signings and mega wages are long gone.

Highlighting the financial turmoil now facing his predecessor Neil Warnock, whose Crystal Palace outfit are in administration, and Portsmouth, Blackwell has pleaded for patience as he tries to juggle his new-look squad.

"I know it is hard for diehard fans who love their club to have to accept restraint when they see players moving out and they perhaps don't see top level replacements come in," he said.

"Of course, I would love to spend millions of pounds on bringing players in but it is not going to happen and surely we have to accept that this is the sensible thing to do.

"To some degree we are having to mix and match with our resources at the moment but surely it is better to do that than over-extend ourselves with the result that the very existence of Sheffield United is threatened.

"This is not a lack of ambition, it is the only sensible option open to us, whether we like it or not," added Blackwell, who in the last 12 months has seen star names such as Kyle Walker, Kyle Naughton and Matthew Kilgallon leave the Lane to try to balance the books.

The players Blackwell has left at his disposal might not command huge fees, but their resilience and second-half performance on Saturday showed their play-off dreams are genuine.

United enjoyed much the better of the first half, once they got to grips with Chris Iwelumo in Bristol City's attack, the burly striker having just arrived on loan from Wolverhampton.

And the recalled pair of Henri Camara and Darius Henderson provided goals after the interval as the Blades strolled to an ultimately comfortable victory.

Mark Bunn returned in goal for United after being out for several weeks with a hand injury, but spent the majority of the afternoon as a spectator.

The first half was full of endeavour but offered little in the way of goalmouth action.

The closest United went to threatening Dean Gerken's goal was when Henderson placed a header wide after a great cross from Derek Geary.