Andre Brooks grabbed his third goal in as many matches as Sheffield United kept up their distant pursuit of a Championship play-off spot with a 3-1 victory over Oxford United at Bramall Lane.

The 22-year-old academy graduate struck in the 66th minute before substitute Chiedozie Ogbene settled matters seven minutes from time.

It was the Blades' fourth successive home league win and moved them to 15th in the table and within eight points of sixth-placed Wrexham, while defeat left the U's firmly mired in the relegation zone. They are five points adrift of safety after Blackburn Rovers' win over Sheffield Wednesday.

Myles Peart-Harris had given the visitors an early lead after an error from Sheffield United goalkeeper Michael Cooper, but after Sydie Peck's equaliser late in the first half, Brooks and Ogbene gave the home side a deserved win.

Sheffield United's deadline-day arrivals Kalvin Phillips and Joe Rothwell were introduced to the home crowd before kick-off, although neither was involved. Leo Hjelde, signed on loan from Sunderland, came off the bench for the closing stages of a feisty contest which included seven bookings.

Matt Bloomfield's side gave themselves early hope through Peart-Harris's 13th-minute opener as the January arrival from Brentford followed in Cameron Brannagan's long-range effort and was rewarded when Cooper spilled it and presented him with his first goal for the club.

Sheffield United should have equalised nine minutes before the break but Tyler Bindon put a free header over the bar from a corner.

However, the threat they carried down the right flank all evening bore fruit in the 41st minute when a lovely ball from Ollie Arblaster found Harrison Burrows in space, and his astute pull-back fell nicely for Peck, who put the chance away.

The Blades were inches away from taking a lead into the interval but Gustavo Hamer's spectacular curling attempt struck the bar.

Peart-Harris had an opportunity within a minute of the restart for Oxford, but a crucial intervention from Femi Seriki saved the day and the U's were rarely seen again as an attacking force after that.

They were not short on spirit, but there was a gap in class and the Blades took the lead with a high-quality finish from Brooks, whose neat footwork from Tom Cannon's cross opened up the space and his left-footed shot did the rest.

The home side pressed for a third and Ogbene delivered it, taking Hamer's cross-field ball neatly on his chest before beating Oxford goalkeeper Jamie Cumming with his left foot.

It was his first goal in 23 months.

Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder told BBC Radio Sheffield:

"I thought it was a pretty comfortable evening apart from the first 15-20 minutes.

"Everyone could see their approach - killing the game at every opportunity - which is OK because they are at a different level to our football club, which is not being disrespectful. It's a good club we were playing against, and they are fighting for their lives.

"These midweek games are awkward games and you have to get a good performance and result in there which we did. That's a huge result for us.

"The Middlesbrough game, the Coventry game, the Ipswich game, the Birmingham game, the Stoke game take care of themselves. These are the ones you have to nail.

"We kept doing the right things and I was delighted with the contribution of everyone, including the punters."

Oxford United manager Matt Bloomfield told BBC Radio Oxford:

"We got ourselves ahead and, whilst we didn't have possession of the football, we felt really confident in our shape. We defended really, really well, so the goals were really disappointing.

"If you look at it, I think they had three shots on target tonight and scored three goals.

"The boys are giving us everything. I can't tell you how proud I am of the work rate and the effort and the discipline we're showing in our game.

"We're getting punished at the moment for every little error, but we will come out of the other side of that.

"We're in an incredibly challenging league, in a situation that we believe we are going to fight our way out of, and we are only going to do that by fighting."