Williamson gets some revenge

Born and bred in Derby, Williamson had always dreamed of playing for the Rams but was released by the club as a teenager.

After scoring the goal that denied his boyhood club a victory at Bramall Lane, the 27-year-old, who used to have a season ticket for the Baseball Ground, said: "It felt really good to score against them but it would have felt even better if it was a winning goal.

"I was always a Derby supporter – until I got released. I grew up in Derby and I played for them when I was 14 or 15 but I was released just before scholarship which is when I went to Mansfield.

"It was disappointing that I didn't make the grade but I was not the only one who got released... Joleon Lescott (who now plays for Manchester City and England) got released by Derby around the same time and look how he has gone on to bigger and better things."

Although the Blades dropped out of the top six by failing to win, Williamson insists that play-off qualification is still the 'minimum target' for the club.

"We never give up here and we have always got a chance," he said. "Getting in the play-offs is the minimum aim. You only have to put back-to-back wins together in this league and you can jump many places."

Manager Kevin Blackwell, who is already without a string of key players due to injuries, faces an anxious wait to see if goalkeeper Mark Bunn will be fit for tomorrow's trip to Preston North End.

Bunn limped off against Derby after suffering a hand injury and two dead legs and was replaced by Ian Bennett.

Blackwell also revealed that midfielder James Harper could be missing for several weeks depending on the results of X-rays for a suspected chipped ankle bone.

Derby manager Nigel Clough was furious when referee Graham Lancashire failed to allow substitute Russell Anderson onto the field in the minutes immediately before Williamson's equalising goal.

"I believe the officials are all miked up with these expensive systems now but the referee said he couldn't hear which is a pretty lame excuse," said Clough. "It might not have made any difference, but it might have done."