Sheffield United: Why the boss was "proud" of his team despite seeing them concede a late equaliser against Nottingham Forest

After surviving long periods of pressure during a one-sided first-half, which saw Wes Foderingham save a penalty from visiting midfielder Brennan Johnson, United were on the verge of scoring a huge victory in the race for Championship play-off qualification when Billy Sharp pounced midway through the second period.

But Ryan Yates’ header deep into added time saw Forest claim the draw their manager Steve Cooper, who later described his team’s performance as “brilliant”, felt was the least they deserved.

Although Heckingbottom admitted the result “felt like a real kick in the teeth”, he told The Star United’s injury issues meant his team had no reason to feel downhearted.

“We have got some round pegs in square holes,” said Heckingbottom, who handed teenager Femi Seriki his full debut when George Baldock was ruled-out before kick-off. “Something I’ve learnt as I’ve gone along is perspective.

“That’s why my message to the lads afterwards was ‘You’ve come away with something, despite everything that’s getting thrown at you.’

“Sometimes, you’ve just got to find a way. You can’t always be as fluid as you might like, especially when so many people are out."

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United finished the contest sixth in the table, leapfrogging Luton Town who face ninth placed Middlesbrough this afternoon, while Forest climbed to eighth.

“My message to the boys afterwards was this: ‘You came back, when they were better in the first-half, and were on top in the second,’ so that showed fight,” Heckingbottom continued, “And that’s why I am proud of them.

“I thought all of the subs we brought on made an impact. One team comes off feeling like it’s won the FA Cup. The other feels like it’s just been relegated. Second-half, we were much better.

“We had a late winner against Blackburn Rovers recently. Now we’ve been on the back end of it.

“We wanted three points. We thought we’d done enough and we felt we’d done it. But that perspective is important.”

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