'Killing the game' - Sheffield United boss's impassioned plea ahead of Birmingham City clash

Despite a supposed referee edict in the summer to let games flow more, play seems to be being interrupted as often as ever so far this season for niggling fouls – something the United chief would like to see stamped out as his side prepare to return to Championship action this weekend at home to Birmingham City.

“Is it the refs’ fault? I don’t know,” Heckingbottom said. “There’s so much shirt pulling and everyone can see it, but we’re giving free-kicks when players feel a push and go down.

“We got one at Swansea when Bash [Chris Basham] went down in front of us. It’s not a foul. They’re the things we want to get out of the game.

“Cheating’s the wrong word but people are buying cheap free-kicks. That’s what I thought the changes were for. A shirt pull is still a foul, a bad tackle is still a bad tackle. A red card, a yellow card or whatever.

“But I thought minimal contact is what we were trying to get out of the game. It’s killing the game.

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“We’re delivering something that isn’t right, we’re rewarding people for going to ground too easily, when we said we weren’t going to.”

Only two clubs in the second tier, Sunderland and Middlesbrough, have picked up more yellow cards than the Blades so far this season but they haven’t yet suffered a red ahead of the meeting with John Eustace’s City at Bramall Lane.

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