Sheffield United: Boss makes an important statement about the Championship leaders' form this season
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Speaking after seeing his team enter the international break three points clear at the top of the Championship table following a 2-0 victory over Preston North End, Heckingbottom noted their upturn in form can be traced back to the end of last year, when United surged up the rankings to qualify for the play-offs.
Although they were eventually beaten on penalties at the semi-final stage, Heckingbottom insisted: “We have to take confidence and belief from the fact this is spilling over from last season. It’s not something the lads are producing right now. It’s something they’ve carried on, over a period of time, which tells you a lot about them and how they are.”
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Hide Ad“The key now is to make sure we continue in the same way,” he continued. “Driving it forward and trying to be the very best we can be.”
Despite expressing pride at the fact 14 members of his senior and development squads are on duty with their respective countries this week, Heckingbottom would almost certainly have preferred to continue with the domestic schedule given United’s momentum. But he will take heart from the fact they have experienced similar interruptions in the past, with a series of postponements caused by the Covid-19 pandemic wrecking their calendar over Christmas.
United's win at Deepdale was their seventh in 10 outings this term, and 23rd in total since Heckingbottom was appointed 10 months ago. Having begun his reign in 16th, they eventually went on to finish fifth.
“Twenty-three points from 10 games, we have to be delighted with that,” Heckingbottom said. “We couldn’t have done much more, I don’t think, so we’ve got to be really pleased with that.”
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Hide AdUnited will focus on improving the fitness of Jayden Bogle and Billy Sharp ahead of October 1st’s clash with Birmingham City, while also attempting to accelerate the recovery of players including John Fleck, Adam Davies, Enda Stevens and Ben Osborn from injury.