Sheffield United: The brave decision the boss has taken ahead of clash with Nottingham Forest

Contesting a seventh match in only 22 days, United suffered their first defeat in 10 outings when they were beaten at The Den.

Now seventh in the table ahead of Forest’s visit to Bramall Lane, Heckingbottom has revealed United’s performance in south London convinced him to take advantage of a rare break in the fixture schedule and grant his squad a much needed rest.

“It’s not been enough time to sort things out physically, more psychologically,” the United manager said. “I told them to go home and spend some time with their friends or families. Then we came in on the Monday and made sure it was a good day, a really fun day, where we weren’t thinking about football or Forest. Hopefully everyone feels a little bit recharged after that.”

United are seventh in the Championship, a point behind sixth-placed Luton Town, ahead of their clash with Forest. Steve Cooper’s men travel to South Yorkshire ranked ninth.

“That, at Millwall, was one of the lowest physical outputs we’ve had all season,” Heckingbottom said. “Sometimes, though, that can be a mental thing. Your mind can be telling you that you’re doing the same as you usually do, because of the effort you’re putting in, but it’s just not there in your legs.

“But we are used to it, because that’s what you do in this division - rest, recover and play, then recover and play again.”

MORE: https://www.thestar.co.uk/sport/football/sheffield-united/boss-could-go-gung-ho-against-forest-3595478