"Serious" Sander Berge is aiming to set a personal career record against Middlesbrough

After scoring for the second time in as many outings during last weekend’s win over Swansea City, Berge enters Wednesday’s match against Middlesbrough searching for his seventh of the campaign.

With 16 matches of this term’s Championship programme still on United’s fixture schedule, the Norway international has already equalled his highest ever return since turning professional.

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Heckingbottom insisted Berge’s studious nature - “He’s a football fan, as well as being a footballer” - is the catalyst behind his improvement in the final third of the pitch, telling The Star: “He’s on six so he’ll be looking to get past 10 without a doubt. That, for a midfielder, would be a really good return and he can definitely do it. We have a lot of chats and conversations about football. He loves learning about it as well as playing it and that’s one of the things which makes him really stand out.”

“Sander is really serious in the dressing room, that’s his character,” continued Heckingbottom. “But everyone here understands that’s because he’s serious about winning and getting better.”

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Second in the table and 10 points ahead of their latest opponents, who are preparing for the match in third, beating Michael Carrick’s side would see Berge and his team mates take another step towards securing automatic promotion.

After producing two excellent finishes, during United’s victories over Wrexham and City, the conversation surrounding Berge’s recent performances has revolved around his finishing - particularly as the 24-year-old did not find the back of the net for the first 36 months of his career. But Heckingbottom insisted another aspect of his game had arguably made an even greater contribution to the club’s successes so far this term.

“Everyone talks about the goals,” he said. “And I get that, why people will take notice of that part of what Sander is doing. But it’s what he does without the ball as well. With and without the ball, he’s fantastic and that often goes unnoticed.”

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