Sheffield United braced for £3.5m defender raid, West Ham transfer target holds off contract talks

Sheffield United are back in action tomorrow evening, when they host fellow play-off chasers Nottingham Forest at Bramall Lane.

As things stand, the Blades are seventh in the table, just two points ahead of Forest in ninth, and the result game could go a long way in deciding whether either of the two sides makes the top six.

The last time the two sides faced each other, back in November, United secured a 1-1 draw away from home, with Morgan Gibbs-White getting on the scoresheet.

Ahead of the game, United manager Paul Heckingbottom has given his verdict on misfiring striker Oli McBurnie, who has scored just one in his last 36 matches for the Blades.

Heckingbottom said: "With Oli, it’s game time. If you get him on the pitch, then he’ll score goals and his record tells you that. It proves that. But I can’t leave him on the pitch just to score goals.

“I’m not concerned about Oli, because I see him every single day in training. All he can keep doing is fighting and knuckling down. Because eventually a chance will drop for him and he’ll tuck it away.

"Then, when that happens, we’ll all be talking about something different won’t we. The story will change.”

Take a look at the latest news and transfer stories from the second tier, ahead of another busy midweek packed with fixtures:

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