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Leon Clarke has scored four goals in his past two appearances for Sheffield United

Leon Clarke scored either side of half-time as Sheffield United beat Wolves to go second in the Championship.

They were good value for their win, but were helped by the early dismissal of Wolves' Conor Coady for pulling down Clarke as he chased a through ball.

Wolves also missed a penalty when trailing 1-0, Ruben Neves hitting the post after Diogo Jota had been fouled.

Ex-Wolves man Clarke, who netted twice in Sunday's win over Sheffield rivals Wednesday, converted two crosses.

The Blades are without a number of attacking options because of injuries and Clarke has taken advantage, scoring four goals in the space of four days to secure two impressive victories for last season's League One champions.

Clarke started his career at Wolves and struggled during a second spell at Molineux, but the 32-year-old was in clinical form against his former club to earn a seventh win in 10 league games for Chris Wilder's side this term.

His first goal came from a low Enda Stevens cross, while his second was a towering header from a Mark Duffy free-kick.

United dominated the first half after Coady had been sent off and asserted control again after £15.8m midfielder Neves had failed to equalise for the visitors from 12 yards.

It was an unhappy return to Bramall Lane for Coady, who spent the 2013-14 campaign on loan at Sheffield United and was also a summer transfer target for the Blades.

His red card led to Wolves making a tactical switch and taking off £13m winger Helder Costa, whose return to the first team after nearly six months out injured lasted only 19 minutes.

Portuguese midfielder Ruben Neves missed Wolves' best chance to score, hitting the post from the penalty spot

Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder told BBC Radio Sheffield: "It was a different type of performance.

"The question on everybody's lips was how we'd turn up, with the opposition having a day more to recover and everything that went with a massive result on Sunday.

"We're a consistent side so I wasn't surprised with the level of the performance. Apart from a gift of a penalty, there wasn't much action in and around our penalty area."

Wolves head coach Nuno Espirito Santo told BBC WM: "I'm disappointed. The game started well until the moment with the red card. We kept in the game, but it's a bad result.

"We showed character. We only conceded in the second half with a mistake from us, which is something we have to look at and try to avoid. There's nothing very positive from this game."

On Coady's dismissal: "The law is clear. If you are the last man holding an opponent when you're not trying to play the ball, it's a red card."