Sheffield United hand Man City youngster James McAtee a new challenge

The midfielder, on loan from Manchester City, has grown increasingly influential after recovering from a difficult start to his career in South Yorkshire; scoring twice in United’s last five outings and starting four of those. Confident McAtee has now embraced the physical aspect of Championship football having initially struggled with its robust nature, United manager Paul Heckingbottom has told The Star he believes the 20-year-old could become an important cog in the new look system he trialled during an FA Cup tie at Millwall earlier this month.

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But as United prepare to try and strengthen their grip on second place by beating Hull City on Friday, Heckingbottom wants McAtee to begin imposing himself more on the closing stages of contests when he believes the youngster’s passing range and technique could wreak havoc.

“The key for James now is to sustain it,” he said, after being reminded McAtee has yet to complete a full 90 minutes since arriving from the Premier League champions. “The change (against Stoke) was purely tactical, though.”

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Replaced on all 10 of his United’s starts so far, McAtee is most usually taken off around the hour mark although he did reach the 89th minute in south London. Tommy Doyle, another player Heckingbottom has borrowed from Pep Guardiola, took his colleague’s place against Alex Neil’s men in the 55th minute. More defensively minded, Doyle’s introduction made sense at a stage of the contest when Stoke trailed 2-1 and were pressing for an equaliser. Jayden Bogle later scored his second of the game, following Iliman Ndiaye’s opener, to ensure United finished the latest round of fixtures in second and boasting an 11 point advantage over third placed Watford.

“James is showing the player that he is now,” said Heckingbottom, who could be without Ndiaye for the clash with Hull. “One of the things I really like about him is his ability really grasp those big moments in games and come alive when they happen. But there’s always room for improvement, from each and every one of us.”