Sheffield United 1 - 0 Coventry: Sharp earns below-par Blades late win

Substitute Billy Sharp's scrappy late goal earned Sheffield United a barely-deserved 1-0 win over second-placed Coventry.

Chances were at a premium in the first half, but Coventry's Adam Armstrong had a low shot well saved by George Long following a fine through-ball from Ruben Lameiras.

Ben Turner also threatened for the visitors, having a shot blocked and then putting the rebound over.

Long was forced to make a fine save early in the second half, tipping a volley from Lameiras over the bar.

But the keeper went close to spilling the ball over the line following Jacob Murphy's effort.

The goal came in the 80th minute when a corner from Paul Coutts was missed by keeper Reice Charles-Cook and the ball appeared to go in off Sharp's shoulder.

To compound Coventry's misery, they had skipper Sam Ricketts sent-off in injury-time when he received a second yellow card for a reckless challenge on Chris Basham.