Sheffield United: Rangers target John Souttar not the only option in search for a centre-half

Despite admitting he is interested in bringing John Souttar to Bramall Lane later this month, Heckingbottom revealed several alternatives, should the Heart of Midlothian defender move elsewhere, were also presented to him by recruitment specialists Paul Mitchell and Jared Dublin ahead of the transfer window.

One of those - James Hill - joined AFC Bournemouth from Fleetwood Town last week, after United’s Championship rivals agreed to pay £1m for his signature.

“It will be non-stop until the end of January,” said Heckingbottom, who was appointed in November. “We started early on. I tried to get up to speed, speaking to the squads and Mitch and Jared.

“A lot of work was done and a lot of conversations have been had. The easy bit is getting the targets.

“Getting the deal over the line is the tricky bit.”

After reverting to a back three when Heckingbottom replaced Slavisa Jokanovic at the helm, United could have only one senior centre-half available for selection at Pride Park if Jack Robinson and John Egan are both declared unavailable for selection.

Egan, a Republic of Ireland international, missed Sunday’s FA Cup tie at Wolverhampton Wanderers while Robinson was substituted after apparently suffering an injury.

Rhys Norrington-Davies, a graduate of United’s development programme, has been placed on standby for the fixture having impressed at Molineux.