Sheffield United are told why they're equipped to win promotion battle
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Second in the table and three points ahead of third-placed Middlesbrough, Paul Heckingbottom’s side contest the first of nine matches remaining on their league schedule at Norwich City this weekend. With United’s manager warning the race to finish as runners-up behind runaway leaders Burnley is likely to have “plenty of twists and turns”, strength of character is likely to be just as important as skill between now and the end of the campaign.
Doyle, on loan from Manchester City, hopes that could give them the edge over those teams hoping to prevent them from joining his parent club in the top-flight next term.
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Hide Ad“The mood here never really changes, it’s always on a high,” he said, providing a glimpse behind the scenes at Bramall Lane. Sometimes you get knock backs a little bit. But the next day or the day after - if we have a day off - then everyone is straight back to what they were like. I think that’s one of the special things about this group.”
United enter their meeting with David Wagner’s side on the back of two straight victories, beating Sunderland and then Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup. Doyle’s added time strike during that match set-up a semi-final against the team he is set to rejoin this summer, although the England under-21 international and his team mate James McAtee will be ineligible for selection at Wembley.
Before those successes, United had suffered two losses in three outings; a sequence of results which raised promotion hopes on Teesside. But Doyle insisted the response demonstrates Heckingbottom’s squad has the personality as well as the talent to survive in what is threatening to become a pressure-cooker atmosphere.
“The worst thing you can do is let a defeat get to you,” he said. “You know you are not always going to win every game and if we don’t perform, of course it’s really disappointing because of the standards we set. But the worst thing you can do, like I say, is dwell. You’ve got to roll your sleeves up and go again.”