Both League One playoff semi-final first legs take place on Thursday night and at Bramall Lane it's fifth against fourth as Sheffield United take on Swindon Town.

Neither side ended the season in good form and both will be hoping they can get back to their best as they chase promotion to the Championship.

Sheff Utd

The Blades are in the League One playoffs for the third time in four seasons and hoping to end their recent post-season hoodoo.

In 2013 they lost agonisingly to Huddersfield Town on penalties in the Wembley final, while a year later they didn't make it to the national stadium as they fell to eventual winners Yeovil Town at the semi-final stage.

Last season they finished a place but seven points adrift of the top six, but Nigel Clough's men have quickly returned to the playoffs by finishing fifth in 2014-15.

They would have faced a daunting semi-final against Preston North End had they lost on the final day to sixth-placed Chesterfield, but a 1-1 draw secured a semi-final against Swindon.

Sunday's stalemate made it five games without a win for the Blades, but a run of four wins in five before that is the main reason they had little to worry about going into the final day.

Recent form: WDLDDD

Swindon

Like their opponents, Swindon stuttered into the playoffs without a win in five games.

The Robins collected just three points out of a possible 15 to finish the season and would have been right in the automatic promotion hunt had they not faded away so dramatically.

On Sunday they ended their season with a 2-2 draw at home to Leyton Orient, making it two draws in a row against relegation-threatened teams after also being held by Colchester United a week ago.

Mark Cooper has known for a couple of weeks that a fourth-place finish was likely and because of that has rested several of his first-choice players as Swindon look to return to the Championship for the first time since 2000.

Recent form: WLDLDD

Team News

Clough has rotated his squad regularly in the last few weeks and changes are expected from the draw with Chesterfield.

Jamie Murphy was rested on Sunday, while Paul Coutts and Chris Basham should both return after not being risked against the Spireites.

Louis Reed is out injured after damaging his heel in the last game of the season, while Terry Kennedy and Matty Done remain out with knee and groin injuries respectively.

Cooper, meanwhile, only has one injury concern and Harry Toffolo is rated at 60-40 to be available after suffering a dead leg in last week's draw at Colchester.

Robins captain Nathan Thompson sat out the draw with Orient, but he is fully fit and ready to return at Bramall Lane, as are Wes Foderingham, Ben Gladwin, Massimo Luongo and Jon Obika.

Sheff Utd possible starting lineup:
Howard; Freeman, Basham, Brayford, Harris; Scougall, Coutts, Baxter, Adams; McNulty Murphy
,
Swindon possible starting lineup:
Foderingham; Ricketts, Stephens, Thompson; Byrne, Luongo, Rodgers, Gladwin, Toffolo; Smith, Obika

Head To Head

The home team has won the last five meetings between the pair, with the last away victory coming 16 games ago in a 1994 second-tier match that the Blades won 3-1.

This season, Swindon romped to a 5-2 victory at home in September, while the most recent meeting at Bramall Lane in January went United's way as Jamie Murphy's late double settled matters.

We say: Sheff Utd 1-1 Swindon

Neither side is bringing any momentum into the playoffs and it could be a cagey affair, with a draw a decent result for both teams ahead of the second leg on Monday night.