Sheffield United boss Kevin Blackwell has dismissed suggestions Chris Morgan deliberately ensured he would be suspended against Barnsley.

The Blades skipper received his fifth yellow card of the season in his side's home defeat to Newcastle earlier this week and will miss out on a potentially explosive encounter with Barnsley striker Iain Hume next Monday.

Blackwell said: "It's nonsense to suggest Chris got booked so he would miss the Barnsley game.

"Nothing could be further from the truth. Chris, as a former Barnsley player, was desperate to play there."

Morgan, who spent six years at hometown club Barnsley before switching to Sheffield United in 2003, was involved in an incident that left Hume with a fractured skull and internal bleeding during last season's match between the two sides at Oakwell in November.

Morgan, who has always maintained his innocence, claimed the impact was accidental, but Hume, who made his comeback for Barnsley in August this year, is still considering legal action.

Meanwhile Blackwell could be preparing for next week's derby clash with less than half his first-team squad.

He was without Gary Naysmith, Derek Geary (both knee), Richard Cresswell (ribs), Jamie Ward (broken wrist), Nick Montgomery (knee), Lee Williamson (back), Andrew Davies (knee), Andrew Taylor (thigh) and Paddy Kenny (drugs ban) for Monday night's home defeat to Newcastle while defender Kyle Walker limped off during that game with ankle ligament damage.

Blackwell said: "We lost (Andrew) Taylor in the first 20 minutes against Cardiff, so that was another one we lost and we had to rearrange again, then we lose Kyle Walker and we have to rearrange again and now we've lost Morgan.

"I've never known a season like it. There will be something like 14 players on the sidelines out of a squad of 25 and that just tells you how stretched we are.

"We are very stretched at the moment. We just need to have a bit of luck. I don't think there's anything else wrong."