They made 7 changes to the team that drew 2-2 with Palace in their last game, including cup heros midfielder Michael Tonge and striker Steve Kabba who were both left on the bench.

To be fair to United, when the Dons took the lead int he first half it was against the run of play. And they had to weather quite a bit of pressure from United in the second. But despite bringing Peter Ndlovu and Carl Asaba off the bench and facing 10 men for the last few minutes, the Blades failed to get the equaliser.

Like Arsenal of late, United have problem at left-back. Ben Doane was stretchered off after 56 minutes. He had just been recalled from a loan at Mansfield as cover for what is apparently an injury-ravaged squad. We'll have more details on that ravaging in the week.

Ashburrn adds...

It looks like the recalled defender Ben Doane will indeed be out of the semi-final. Elsewhere, Ashley Cole has declared himself fit to face the Blades this weekend.

Rupe adds...
The players Doane was recalled to cover for are Phil Jagielka and Rob Kozluk, who picked up a dead leg and a hamstring injury respectively, in the Palace game. Meanwhile , striker Iffy Onuora is expected to make his comeback from a 7 month achilles problem in a reserve match tonight, but presumably he won't be playing on Sunday. Dean Windass and Owen Morrison are both unavailable (cup-tied or banned?)

See Arsenal vs Blades page for Sheffield Utd links, head-to-head stats, and more.