Sheffield United's appearance in the Coca-Cola Championship play-off final at Wembley on Monday has "totally vindicated" manager Kevin Blackwell's decision to return to Bramall Lane.

The Blades were sliding down the table fast when fan-power forced the departure of previous manager Bryan Robson in February last year and chairman Kevin McCabe turned to Blackwell to act as brake man.

Blackwell had already helped take one Blades side to within touching distance of the Barclays Premier League as coach under Neil Warnock in 2003 and will now try to go one step further with his own version.

Ahead of the showdown with Burnley at Wembley, he said: "We're talking about the cathedral of English football. It's the pinnacle. The best place you can ply your trade. Wembley is absolutely fabulous.

"I can't say how exciting it is to go there. They've done a fantastic job and it's great to see Sheffield United playing the biggest game in world football. I'm proud and delighted. I can't really describe what it would mean to me.

"It justifies my decision to come back and the way I've changed things around. I've taken some flak along the way, but I think I've been totally vindicated."