Sheffield United: Boss left fuming as he claims terrible decisions robbed his team at Blackpool

Sander Berge and Oliver Norwood both had goals ruled-out for offside before the match at Bloomfield Road eventually ended in stalemate.

With United slipping to ninth in the Championship table ahead of Barnsley’s visit to Bramall Lane this weekend, Heckingbottom told The Star: “I’m not going to say a bad word about those lads in there, not a word, because I can see how much they are giving and what they are putting in.

“If they could see it (the officials) they would feel the same way I do about them. We scored two goals, came here and did what we had to do, and then had both of them taken away from us.

“Neither of them were offside, even though that’s what they were both given for. Sander was onside and then Ollie’s one - he puts the ball in the back of the net and although the ref might have seen the assistant’s flag, he should also have seen there was no one standing in an offside position between him and the ball.”

“I’ll speak to them afterwards, and they (the officials) will say the same thing I will,” Heckingbottom added. “They’ll have to when they watch the replays back again, because they’ll see the same thing I have.

“I don’t come out here and make stuff like that up. I’ve watched both (incidents) and they both should have stood. It’s just so frustrating because we knew what type of game it would be and we executed the plan, did what we had to do. But then those get taken away from us.”

With injuries robbing Heckingbottom of 11 outfield players, youngsters Kacper Lopata, Daniel Jebbison, Ollie Arblaster, Nickseon Gomis and Will Osula all featured on United’s bench; the latter making his debut during the closing stages.

“It’s great for them,” said Heckingbottom, whose side are a point behind sixth-placed Queens Park Rangers. “But we do need to start getting some players back. We need that to happen and people are working so hard behind the scenes, including the lads themselves, to try and make sure that happens.”

MORE: https://www.thestar.co.uk/sport/football/sheffield-united/sharps-pledge-to-teenage-sensation-3611225