Sheffield United have been preparing for the most important match of their season with some warm weather training at La Manga Club.

With an estimated �60m windfall available for promotion to the Premier League the Blades want to make sure nothing is left to chance ahead of their Coca-Cola Championship play-off final appearance against Burnley at Wembley.

The club�s management wanted to ensure the squad was fully focused on the task at hand and they felt the trip to La Manga Club was the best way to achieve this.

During their three-night stay at the five-star venue the players and coaching staff escaped the unpredictable British weather and took advantage of the outstanding training facilities as well as the resort�s three golf courses, 28 tennis courts and luxury spa.

Sheffield United manager Kevin Blackwell said: �It has been ideal preparation. The resort is perfect, the pitch is perfect and the weather is perfect � we just hope we can follow it up with the perfect result at Wembley.�

And United weren�t the only promotion-chasing club staying at La Manga Club; Spanish side FC Cartagena also based themselves at the resort ahead of their final game of the season, today .

La Manga Club boasts the best facilities in southern Europe for professional sports teams, with eight international-standard grass pitches and a host of other amenities including three 18-hole championship golf courses and the five-star Hotel La Manga Club Principe Felipe.

For more information visit www.football.lamangaclub.com.

ENDS

Issued by the Azalea Group. For more information or images contact Lee Todd on 08700 330 550 or email lee@theazaleagroup.com.

A photo of the Sheffield United squad at La Manga Club is available upon request.

About La Manga Club

As a result of 37 years of continued investment, innovation and commitment to excellence, which have ensured that it has remained at the forefront of the sector, La Manga Club is widely recognised as Spain�s flagship resort and as one of the finest in the world.

Evidence of this is provided by its numerous World Travel Award nominations and prizes, such as the World�s Leading Sports Resort (top 5, 2006 and 2007), Spain�s Leading Golf Resort (winner, 2006), Europe�s Leading Golf Resort (winner, 2001, 2003 and 2005), and Europe�s Leading Conference Hotel (winner, 2003). In addition, the hotel obtained the prestigious Q for Quality certification in 2002.

La Manga Club is a spectacular resort located in the Murcia region of south-east Spain. Set out over an area of some 560 hectares (approx. 1,400 acres), it offers visitors a five-star hotel, luxury vacation apartments and 450 hectares of sports facilities, highlights of which include its three 18-hole golf courses, 28 tennis courts and its eight-pitch professional football centre, which also offers facilities for cricket, rugby and Gaelic football.

The resort is also home to innumerable leisure facilities, such as the 2000m2 Spa La Manga Club with its 13 luxurious treatment rooms, comprehensive fitness centre and 25m indoor swimming pool; meeting, banqueting and incentive facilities, and more than 20 restaurants and bars.

La Manga Club is located in a unique setting amid the rolling hills that separate the crystalline Mediterranean from the warm waters of the Mar Menor Sea in Murcia, southern Spain. Lying to the south of the Costa Blanca, this region is known as the Costa C�lida, or 'warm coast', thanks to its mild, year-round Mediterranean climate.