Sheffield United boss Paul Heckingbottom’s forthright stance on Sander Berge talk ahead of reunion at Burnley

Paul Heckingbottom has admitted Sander Berge's eve-of-season departure was "a body blow" to Sheffield United, despite dismissing speculation about the impact he could have made in their survival bid as "irrelevant". Berge joined Burnley just days before the start of the new season, and will face his former side for the first time since tomorrow afternoon at Turf Moor.

While Berge's departure made sense from a business perspective - he was into the final year of his contract and could have walked away for free in the summer - it did not from a football one. After being transformed from a traditional holding midfielder into a dangerous attacking threat during his time at Bramall Lane, Berge was a key cog in the United wheel that stormed to promotion from the Championship last season.

His direct replacement, Gus Hamer from Coventry City, is yet to have the same consistent impact, with mitigating factors including the step up in division and presence in a struggling side rather than one too good for the division. Although United fans are split over Berge's impact there can surely be no debate that United have had to drastically alter their approach from last season, after losing other key men including Iliman Ndiaye and Tommy Doyle alongside Berge.

So how much better off would United be if, in an alternate universe, Berge remained at Bramall Lane, instead of joining Vincent Kompany's Burnley in a summer when they signed 15 players and spent around £100m? "It's irrelevant," said Heckingbottom. "It is pointless spending time on it, because he's not our player so it doesn't matter. There are bigger things, more things, for me to worry about.

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"He's gone, good luck to him. He's a great kid and a good footballer. He carried himself really, really well here. Despite what was said about him, he was a fantastic pro. Good luck to Burnley going and spending that money, taking Sander from us. We can't hide away from the fact of what a body blow it was and when it was.

"But as I said, we're still in the same place as them in the league and it shows we're doing things right and it is not all about the money. We'll continue to think that way and set up in a way and approach the game in a fashion that will give us the best chance of winning."