Sheffield United: Championship leaders identify the players who should be getting more praise
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United consolidated their grip on first place after becoming only the second team to beat Preston North End in the league this season, with Iliman Ndiaye and Oli McBurnie both on target at Deepdale.
Although the narrative surrounding Heckingbottom’s squad has focused on its embarrassment of attacking riches - fit again following injury, captain Billy Sharp joined Reda Khadra on the bench for the trip to Lancashire - the former Barnsley, Leeds and Hibernian chief told The Star it is important to recognise the work of those at the back too.
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Hide AdThe clean sheet United kept against Ryan Lowe’s side was their fourth in a row, and 21st since Heckingbottom was appointed in November.
“Listen, I know there’s a focus on the attack and I see the things you guys write and hear what’s being talked about,” he said. “I see the stuff about Oli, Reda scoring after coming on (at Swansea last week), Iliman and Billy coming back. It was great to have that presence up top again, when he came on here, by the way. We’ve got some really good players there, yes.
“But the work the defenders put in, not only in matches but more importantly at the training ground and in the video room, all of the stuff they do there, it’s excellent. They might not get talked about enough so, for me, keep talking about them.”
Despite entering half-time with a narrow advantage following Ndiaye’s superb solo strike, United had spent long periods of the contest struggling to keep Preston at bay before improving after the break.
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Hide AdJohn Egan, Chris Basham, Anel Ahmedhodzic and George Baldock all produced excellent blocks to prevent Ryan Lowe’s men from taking what would have been a deserved lead. But, providing an insight into the standards which are driving United’s push for promotion, Heckingbottom refused to compliment them on that work - preferring to criticise his team’s work with and without the ball instead.
“Second half,they were good,” he said. “We were having to block because we weren’t defending properly. We were slow to everything, Preston got behind us too easy. That wasn’t the back three, it was everywhere.
“Three clean sheets this month, the centre-halves, the wing-backs and (goalkeeper)Wes Foderingham - there’s a huge amount of credit that deserves to go their way. In the second, they’ll have enjoyed it a lot more with a lot less entries into our box. That’s the way we want to be.”
United return to action on October 1st, when Birmingham City are scheduled to visit South Yorkshire.
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Hide AdHowever, 14 of Heckingbottom’s players have been selected by their respective countries at senior and youth level. Four of those - Rhian Brewster, Tommy Doyle, James McAtee and Khadra - could feature when England under-21’s face their German counterparts at Bramall Lane next Tuesday.