Our Under-21s slipped to a narrow 2-1 Yorkshire derby defeat at the hands of Sheffield United on Wednesday afternoon.

The Professional Development League 2 game saw young duo Lewis Walters and Afolabi Coker make their long-awaited returns from their respective injury lay-offs, while Adryan also featured in the starting line-up to gain some valuable match fitness after finding himself out of the first-team picture in recent weeks.

Connor Dimaio gave the hosts an early lead at the Blades’ Shirecliffe Academy base, turning inside the area before firing beyond goalkeeper Alex Cairns on six minutes.

But Jason Blunt’s side soon responded and were back on level terms just 13 minutes later as Kalvin Phillips’ long-range strike deflected up and over stranded keeper George Willis to make it 1-1.

Despite our youngsters enjoying the better of the first-half chances, the scoreline remained level at the break and the hosts found themselves ahead within two minutes of the restart through Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s composed finish.

And that proved to be the difference in South Yorkshire as the Blades exacted revenge for December’s 4-1 reverse at Thorp Arch.

United team: Cairns, Coyle, Coker (Bennett 45), Skelton, Denton, Thompson, Phillips, Dawson, Adryan, Walters (Parkin 60), Montenegro. Subs. Grimes, Booker, Mulhern.