Warnock praises Gray as Blades' cutting edge

The Sheffield United manager, Neil Warnock, was full of praise for his team after seeing them beat promotion rivals Millwall 2-1 at Bramall Lane on Tuesday night.

Ashley Ward and Andy Gray gave the Blades a two-goal lead in the second half before Millwall pulled one back. "I thought we deserved it even though we were hanging on at the end," Warnock said. "Credit to the lads because we've had one or two blows lately - we've not had much going for us when we've played well. It was a cracking match between two good sides."

Warnock was pleased to see the new signing Gray mark his home debut with a goal. "He's never worked as hard in his life and he's fitting in well," he said.

The Blades manager also paid tribute to the other goalscorer, Ashley Ward. "He's been outstanding in the last few weeks but he hasn't been able to get a goal," he added.

Millwall threatened to stage a comeback when Ifill scored in the 69th minute, but the home side defended well. "We set our own problems by leaving a bit of space there for the goal," Warnock said. "They threw the kitchen sink at us but we defended excellently."

Dennis Wise, his Millwall counterpart, was not too downhearted, and said: "We didn't start very well and they came out of the traps a lot quicker than us. But the lads did very well in the second half and we got ourselves back into it.

"It was always going to be a difficult place to come to because they are a very good side who will be in the play-offs," Wise said. "It was a fantastic goal from Paul Ifill and at that time we were on top. We could have nicked a point and I'm a bit disappointed we didn't do that. But I can't fault the lads for trying - they were fantastic. Hopefully, they will pick themselves up and get ready for the FA Cup on Sunday."

Ward opened the scoring on 58 minutes, turning in Phil Jagielka's cross from close range. Gray made it 2-0 four minutes later, netting the rebound after Andy Marshall parried Michael Tonge's free-kick.

Warnock said he will help the under-pressure Scotland manager, Berti Vogts, by making sure Gray is fit enough to play for his country. Vogts is searching for a squad good enough to make qualifying for the 2006 World Cup a reality. With 10 goals conceded and none scored in Scotland's last two games, it is clear he has much work still to do.

But Warnock believes he can help the Scots by getting the best out of Gray. The forward, who is the son of the former Leeds and Scotland defender Frank Gray, has netted in each of his two games for the Blades since moving from Bradford. He scored on his debut at Reading and Warnock believes there is much more to come from a player who has not featured for Scotland for almost a year.

He said: "He is nowhere near fit enough yet. They never are when they come here - but I will soon change that. I think he could do a job for Scotland certainly and he's 26, so his best years are yet to come. He is 6ft 2ins, so he is a good target man. I wanted to take him off in the Millwall game but I needed him for marking as they had about five big lads in their team."

Gray has two Scotland caps, his debut having come in a 1-0 Euro 2004 qualifying defeat in Lithuania in April 2003, where he played the last 12 minutes. He also played the final half-hour of a 1-1 draw in a friendly with New Zealand at Tynecastle in May 2003 before fading from the international picture.