The FA Cup is Sheffield United's priority, says Clough

Nigel Clough insists The FA Cup is of prime importance to Sheffield United.

The Blades manager is readying his League One outfit for Sunday’s Semi-Final against top-flight Hull City.

After replacing David Weir in the Bramall Lane hot seat in October, Clough has steered his new side to 11th place in the table.

And, after despatching Aston Villa and Fulham in the earlier rounds of The Cup, the former Liverpool midfielder says United are now fully focused on achieving another Cup highlight by becoming the first third-tier side to reach The Final in over a century.

Clough said: "We’ve had some difficult games, so we’ve really had to work to get to this point, but it’s given everyone a lift within the city and certainly within the club.

"For [Hull] the priority is [maintaining their] Premier League status. For us, going into the last few games, our priority is now The FA Cup Semi-Final.

"We’ve got to respect them; they are two leagues above. But we don’t want to respect them too much. We’ve got to have a go ourselves."

One player to have flourished since Clough’s appointment is Liverpool loanee Conor Coady, who captained England to the U17 Euros in 2010.

The midfielder scored in United’s Fifth Round win over Nottingham Forest and he credits Clough with his upturn in form.

Coady added: "I’m playing in a bit more of an attacking role. He’s asking me to get in the box a lot more which I’m really enjoying. For me personally he’s been fantastic, I owe him a lot.

"He’s got us playing on the front foot. It’s a lot better for us because we’re pinning teams in and we’re trying to play that way."

He continued: "We’ve gone into games in this season’s FA Cup with no pressure on our shoulders so we’ll go in there and try and play the way the manager has instilled in us.

"Hopefully we’ll go out there and get a good result."

Watch a special Semi-Final preview show featuring Clough, Coady and Jose Baxter in the media player above