Disappointing start for Speed

Gary Speed admits he has plenty of work to do if he is to get Sheffield United moving in the right direction.

Having taken the Bramall Lane reigns following the departure of Kevin Blackwell, Speed took charge of the Blades for the first time at Middlesbrough on Sunday.

A forgettable contest at the Riverside Stadium was settled by a solitary strike from Kris Boyd, with both sides struggling to offer attacking adventure.

The defeat saw the Blades slip to the foot of the Championship table, having taken only one point from their opening three games, but Speed refused to be too downbeat afterwards.

"I'm very disappointed at the moment," he told Sky Sports.

"I thought we did reasonably well, we kept the ball and restricted them to very few chances, but a mistake cost us in the end.

"It's an unfortunate mistake and you can't blame Morgs (Chris Morgan) for that, he's a fantastic captain. But if you give Kris Boyd that sort of space then he will score, and that was the difference today.

"But I can't fault the lads for their effort, their attitude and how they went about their jobs."

Emotions

Asked what he has learnt in his short time as a Football League manager, Speed added: "I have learnt a lot of emotions.

"I don't think we got what we deserved. We limited Middlesbrough to very few chances, and this is always a difficult place to come.

"We are quite pleased overall, but I think we need to be a bit sharper mentally. We need to switch on a bit more when we have got the ball, but we can work on that. Our delivery from set-pieces wasn't the best either, but we can work on that."

Speed also revealed that he is close to completing his first signing, with French defender Jean Calve among those in attendance on Teesside.

"Maybe we will get that done by Tuesday, you never know," said the Blades boss.