Sheffield United: Billy Sharp makes a confession about The Blades right now as they head to Blackpool
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Speaking as Paul Heckingbottom’s side prepare for tomorrow night’s visit to Blackpool, Sharp described this term’s promotion race as “one of the tightest in years” with only three points separating sixth-placed United from Millwall in 11th.
United remain on course to gain a shot at the Premier League despite being beaten 4-1 by Coventry City over the weekend.
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Hide AdAlthough Heckingbottom told journalists yesterday he has “drawn a line” under that display - albeit after performing a forensic analysis of his side’s failings before returning to South Yorkshire - Sharp admitted events in the Midlands have helped focus minds inside the dressing room.
“It was disappointing,” Sharp said. “Hopefully it’s just an off day. The only positive was that (goalkeeper) Wes (Foderingham) kept the score down.
“We’ve gone through it; what we did do and what we didn’t do. We can’t have a day like that again.
“We did the hard work and then lost control of the game. It led to a performance that wasn’t acceptable. The beauty about football is that there’s another game coming up though.
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Hide Ad“There can’t be a hangover going into Wednesday. We all recognise that we weren’t good enough on the day.”
Although Sharp held contract talks with United before departing for Lancashire - a clause, entitling them to extend his deal by a further 12 months, has yet to be triggered - the 36-year-old’s focus remains on attempting to steer his boyhood club back into the top-flight at the first attempt.
Blackpool are 12th, and enter the meeting with United hoping to record a fourth straight win following victories over Reading, Stoke City and Swansea City.
Despite seeing injuries rip the heart out of their squad, United had travelled to Coventry apparently full of confidence after beating Middlesbrough 4-1 at home four days earlier. But after taking the lead through Sander Berge, they capitulated in alarming fashion after surrendering that advantage.
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Hide AdThe sight of United conceding as many goals in 90 minutes as they had in their previous nine outings prompted fears that fatigue, both mental and physical, is becoming an issue with Heckingbottom’s men competing for the 10th time since the beginning of last month.
Sharp said: “We were the total opposite against Coventry as we were against Middlesbrough. We’ve gone through the stats. We ran as hard as ever. Wes thinks he could have done better with the first one. But Wes has been different class.”
“It was disappointing because if we’d have got it right for another 10 minutes, we’d have been alright I think,” he continued. “We were trying. And you have to give credit to Coventry, because I think they played great. We spoke to a few of their lads, and it was one of their best performances.”
United could be without 11 first team players if Sharp’s fellow striker Oli McBurnie fails to recover from the dead leg he suffered against City.
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Hide Ad“We’ve talked about Blackpool,” Sharp said. “We want to put space between us and them. The manager keeps telling us, when we are on it, not many can live with us.”