Clough: We were desperate

Nigel Clough was relieved to see his Sheffield United team end a run of five games without a win as they beat Port Vale 1-0.

The 30th minute spot-kick was awarded following Michael O'Connor's foul on Jamie Murphy inside the area. Vale had chances to equalise with Louis Dodds firing wide and United goalkeeper Mark Howard forced to tip over O'Connor's long-range drive. Visiting keeper Chris Neal saved from Murphy, Steven Davies and John Brayford. Michael Brown was sent off for the visitors in stoppage time when he collected his second booking for a foul on Ryan Flynn. Clough said: "We were desperate to win and I think you could sense around the place today how desperate we were for the three points. "To get a clean sheet was also pleasing. It wasn't spectacular by any means but we got the three points and we had to work unbelievably hard for it. "It was a blatant penalty. I thought it was the worst tackle of the game, actually, when you think about how high he caught him. "It was an absolute certain penalty. When you see some of the other bookings, I'm surprised there wasn't a booking for that one. "It was that niggly sort of game, in the second half especially. There were a lot of stoppages. "I thought we protected Mark Howard very well, despite them having a lot of the play. "The game in hand is on Tuesday, which is a big one for us as we look to cement our place in the play-offs. Then we have Crewe next Saturday so it's a big few days for us coming up." Port Vale manager Rob Page said: "I was pleased with our second-half performance. "If you take away the penalty decision in the first half, I still think there were aspects of the game we have done better. "I thought we could have kept the ball a lot better in the first half. When you're playing against a team like Sheffield United - whose movement is good and they like to keep the ball - if you keep giving the ball away to them, it's going to be a long afternoon. "We addressed it at half-time and made a couple of changes and I thought we were better for it in the second half. "There was no space over the top for 'Willo' (Ben Williamson) to get in and I thought they were physically getting the better of him. I put Tom (Pope) on and within the first ten minutes, he had an instant impact." On Brown's dismissal, Page said: "The first booking is a great tackle, but that's the way the game is changing now. You can't raise your foot and take the ball without it being a booking, which is a shame for the game. It spoils the art of tackling."