Wrexham came from behind to earn a crucial victory over Sheffield United to maintain their push for a top six spot in the Championship.

Having been wasteful in the first-half, the Blades went in front shortly after the restart as Andre Brooks lashed into the net from close range.

But former Sheffield Wednesday attacker Josh Windass levelled five minutes later with his 11th goal of the campaign across all competitions.

And Sam Smith headed home the winner 12 minutes from time to ensure Phil Parkinson's men - who remain seventh - stay level on points with sixth-place Southampton.

Chris Wilder's outfit drop to 17th, 13 points adrift of the play-off places and 11 points above the relegation zone.

The Blades wasted a golden opportunity to go ahead on 11 minutes when Harrison Burrows squared to Patrick Bamford who was unmarked after Dom Hyam slipped, although the striker guided his effort wide from close range.

And after Adam Davies made a routine save to deny Windass, Burrows failed to hit the target after being picked out by Callum O'Hare.

It typified a wasteful opening half from the home side, and having survived those scares, Wrexham almost punished the Blades as Issa Kabore's floated cross was nodded narrowly wide by Lewis O'Brien.

When Gus Hamer finally managed to beat goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo from Jairo Riedewald's cross, Wrexham were rescued by the offside flag as they kept themselves in the contest going into the second half.

The Red Dragons thought they had stunned Bramall Lane when Windass drilled beyond Davies 16 seconds after the restart, only for the offside flag to deny them the opener.

And Wilder's men went in front just minutes later as, after Okonkwo kept out Bamford's strike, Brooks was on hand to rifle the rebound into the net for his sixth goal of the season.

But Windass got his moment in the limelight as he was picked out by Smith before coolly slotting into the net in front of the travelling supporters.

It triggered an improved spell for the Welsh side who took the lead 12 minutes from time as Kabore's cross was headed into the net by Smith - his eighth goal of the campaign across all competitions.

Brooks and Tom Davies both missed the target with efforts late on as Wrexham went into the international break on a high having earned a 17th league win of the campaign - earning a first league double over the Blades in the process.

Parkinson called for an "almighty" effort from his players ahead of the trip to Bramall Lane, which came just four days after a 3-1 loss to Watford.

Following a gruelling first-half, his side, just as they did against the Hornets, significantly improved in the second to earn what could yet be a crucial victory.

Having had numerous injury and suspension issues in the midst of what has been a hectic fixture schedule of late, the break comes at a welcome time for Wrexham.

They will hope to have top scorer Kieffer Moore and midfielder Matty James back in their squad for the trip to West Bromwich Albion on 3 April.

A period of rest combined with some time on the training ground will be crucial to the Red Dragons as they look to come out of the March international break firing on all cylinders to keep their hopes of earning a fourth successive promotion alive.

As for the Blades, their already faint top six hopes are over, and their wastefulness came back to bite them hard on this occasion.

They are now closer to the bottom three than the top six, and while there was plenty to like about their display against the Red Dragons, Wilder will know his side cannot be so naive defensively to allow teams back into the match in future.

Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder:

"We find a way to lose, Wrexham find a way to win. They had that quality.

"They're always open games from when we play them as we know from the past.

"We have to score and take advantage of our good play, but we find a way to lose because we don't smell danger, don't deal with a couple of situations that we needed to deal with.

"We should have been out of sight."

Wrexham assistant boss Steve Parkin:

"We knew coming here today, it's always a difficult place to come. We knew that if we let Sheffield United get a foothold in the game, it could be a difficult day and I think that we applied ourselves well.

"They had a spell first half where they did get on top, but the reaction after the goal conceded and the way the lads applied themselves after a real difficult run of games, I thought was outstanding, absolutely outstanding."