Sheffield United: Chris Basham versus Jack Robinson decision explained

Revealing Sander Berge was in danger of missing the match through injury, before being cleared for selection and scoring one of his team’s two goals, Heckingbottom admitted Robinson got the nod to replace the suspended John Egan partly because Basham was being kept in reserve as cover for the Norwegian.

“Sander has a bit of a knock and we didn’t really know until the morning of the game that he was going to be okay,” Heckingbottom said. “Looking at how we thought this game might go, I might have used Bash in a midfield slot if he (Berge) wasn’t going to be ready. We did what we thought was best and that was something else we had on our minds.”

Second in the Championship table, United moved 11 points clear of third-placed Blackburn Rovers following their victory at Bloomfield Road, where Basham played before moving to South Yorkshire eight years ago.

“I love Bash,” said Heckingbottom, whose team returns to action at Queens Park Rangers next week. “I spoke with him beforehand and explained everything to him. He’s a really important player, like Jack, for us.”

Heckingbottom his hopeful Oli McBurnie and Ben Osborn could both feature in west London after missing the trip to Lancashire because of injury. But John Fleck, Rhian Brewster and Rhys Norrington-Davies are still unavailable as they battle their way back to fitness.