NEIL Danns helped “little old Colchester United” on their way to a big 2-1 FA Cup upset at Championship high-fliers Sheffield United on Saturday.Danns rammed home his eighth goal of the campaign to cancel out Steve Kabba's opener, and when Gareth Williams popped up with the 72nd minute winner, scouser Danns declared it to be a “great day for the club.

By Carl Marston

NEIL Danns helped “little old Colchester United” on their way to a big 2-1 FA Cup upset at Championship high-fliers Sheffield United on Saturday.

Danns rammed home his eighth goal of the campaign to cancel out Steve Kabba's opener, and when Gareth Williams popped up with the 72nd minute winner, scouser Danns declared it to be a “great day for the club.”

The former Blackburn Rovers midfielder now hopes that the U's are paired against his home-town club of Liverpool in the fourth-round draw, which will be made at lunchtime today.

“People have always underestimated us. They look at it as little old Colchester United going to big Sheffield United, but we always said that we'd show them!” enthused Danns on Saturday night.

“We were confident of competing with them. Their manager made a few changes, but this Sheffield United team still had some great players in it, so you've got to give us a lot of credit.

“I'm so happy for myself, and the team. It was a great performance, and it's been a great day for the lads.

“Sheffield United are absolutely flying at the moment, so it just goes to prove how far we've come since last season.

“We were all quietly confident of springing a surprise, but we still had to do it. What a result!

“I have no doubt who I want in the fourth round. I want to play Liverpool,” confirmed Danns, who was speaking before the Reds rallied from 3-1 down to beat Luton Town 5-3 in the Saturday tea-time kick-off.

Danns only mustered one goal during the first three months of the season, but he has now bagged seven in the last couple of months.

At this rate, the 23-year-old will be attracting interest from other clubs, which is why manager Phil Parkinson is loath to speak too highly of his talented midfield maestro.

Danns continued: “We are all ecstatic. I thought we were a little complacent for the first 20 minutes. It was a bad start and they took an early lead.

“But that was just the kick up the backside that we needed. I thought we were the better team for the rest of the match. We created far more chances than Sheffield United.

“I'm feeling a lot stronger and fitter now. I wasn't so fit at the start of the season, and full marks to the gaffer for taking me to one side and making me sure that I improved my fitness.

“I've now scored four goals in the last six matches, and I'm delighted for Gareth (Williams) that he has finally got on the score-sheet.

“We had all been hammering Gareth, joking with him about when he's going to score! But he was first-class today.

“It's brilliant for all the lads. We have players in our team who can play at a similar level to Sheffield United, and we knew that we could cause an upset,” said Danns.