Sheffield United boss draws line under Man City pair’s semi-final eligibility

Paul Heckingbottom has drawn a line under the issue of James McAtee and Tommy Doyle’s eligibility for Sheffield United’s FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City next month.

The pair are on loan at Bramall Lane from the Etihad and, as The Star reported immediately after the draw, would miss out at Wembley with FA rules stating explicitly that a loan player cannot appear against their parent club in the competition.

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Heckingbottom raised some hopes that a solution may be found when pledging to speak with City about their potential inclusion in the game, with United expected to make the case that the experience of such an occasion could only benefit the players and, by extension, City themselves for the future.

But, asked ahead of this weekend's trip to Norwich City if he had made contact with City over the issue, Heckingbottom said: "We can't do it. It's nothing to do with us or City; it's an FA rule that they can't play.

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"They wanted to play, obviously, but it is what it is and there's nothing they can do about it."

Speaking immediately after scoring a long-range screamer to seal victory over Blackburn Rovers in the quarter-finals, Doyle was publicly calm and measured about the situation - but privately he and McAtee will be disappointed to miss out on the biggest occasion of United's season so far, especially having done so much to help them reach the final four stage.

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