STOKE CITY defender Andrew Davies capped an eventful 24 hours by finishing on the winning side in the 124th steel city derby after completing his loan move to Sheffield United.
The 24-year-old former Southampton player found himself lining up against Sheffield Wednesday in an electric atmosphere at Bramall Lane on Friday evening within a matter of hours of sealing his switch to the Championship club on a three-month long loan agreement.
Davies was snapped up by Blades boss Kevin Blackwell to ease his defensive problems with highly-rated Matt Kilgallon absent through illness and he lined up at the heart of the defence alongside Chris Morgan as United took on their neighbours in the Sheffield derby.
By half time, the Blades looked to be romping to victory as they stormed into a three-goal lead through Jamie Ward, Darius Henderson and a Lewis Buxton own goal.
But Davies and Morgan's new partnership was put under severe pressure in the second half as Wednesday launched a fightback to make the score 3-2 in the end.
City boss Tony Pulis had indicated last weekend that one or two of members of his squad would be given the opportunity to go out on loan in order to play first team football following the arrival of several new signings before the transfer deadline.
The capture of Robert Huth and Danny Collins has given Pulis plenty of options across the back four and so he has allowed Davies to go out on loan.
The England Under-21 international, who was signed from Southampton for an undisclosed fee at the start of last season after being the Saints' Player of the Year in the 2007-08 campaign, has made only four appearances for the Potters.
He spent time on loan at another Championship club, Preston North End, last season to build up his match fitness and made five appearances in that spell.
His only first team game for the Potters so far in the current campaign came in the Carling Cup second round victory at Leyton Orient last month.
Davies completed his loan switch to Bramall Lane just in time for him to be eligible for the Sheffield derby against Wednesday but only linked up with his new team-mates on the morning of the big game.
