Blackwell has taken on the role of Blades manager until the end of the season following Bryan Robson's unsurprising exit yesterday.

Robson departed after just nine months at the helm, and although he was offered an 'upstairs' role as director of football, he felt it was in his best interests to walk away.

On the back of a run of just one win from 10 matches in the Coca- Cola Championship, Robson had lost the support of the fans as they turned and demonstrated against him.

It means Blackwell is back at the club he quit just under four years ago to manage Leeds, and after serving as former boss Neil Warnock's assistant for a number of seasons.

But such has been the rapid turnaround at Bramall Lane, and ahead of Sunday's FA Cup fifth-round tie with Middlesbrough, Blackwell has not even considered his own personal well-being.

"I've not sat down with (club chairman) Terry Robinson or (plc chairman) Kevin McCabe and discussed how long my tenure at the football club will be," stated Blackwell.

"I just wanted to get up here and deal with the players. I've not even bothered talking about wages or where I'm going to live or anything like that.

"I was initially called on Monday and asked whether I would work in a coaching structure with Robbo, and I have to admit I was surprised when I received that phone call.

"It was a quick message, but something that intrigued me, and I left it at that.

"Then all of a sudden I received a call at 5.50pm yesterday asking me to come up to Bramall Lane and talk about a different type of structure.

"When I arrived I discovered it was about me becoming manager."

There is the prospect of Blackwell being handed a longer deal if he is able to resurrect the club's fortunes because at present the Blades are only seven points off the relegation zone.

"Once I sit down and have a longer chat about what we are doing and where we are going, then I'll be very happy," added Blackwell.

"Right now I have a job to do. The team is absolutely paramount, so I'll deal with that first.

"But I'm more than happy here, and I'm sure they'll look after me in some respect somewhere down the line.

"This is a club that's going places and without a doubt it could easily return to the Premier League.

"It has the infrastructure, and can be anything in the Premier League it wants it to be."

But first up for Blackwell is Sunday's clash with Boro and a chance for the Blades to continue to cut a swathe through the top flight as they have beaten Bolton and Manchester City en route to the last 16.

Blackwell is convinced that despite the current upheaval, he will encounter few problems on Sunday.

"The players were terrific in training today, although I think they feel they have been slightly unlucky," added Blackwell.

"But I've told them the only way they can turn things around is to work that little bit harder, because the harder you work then the luckier you become.

"When you pit your wits against the best, you also have to be confident, and the lads have already shown that against Bolton and Manchester City.

"So we will see how things develop in the next 48 hours, but I can guarantee you we will give Middlesbrough a very good game."