Sheffield United determined to upset the odds as boss outlines Premier League survival plan

Manager Paul Heckingbottom has issued an impassioned rallying cry to all associated with Sheffield United ahead of the new Premier League season, insisting: “We can surprise a lot of people.”

The Blades are many bookies’ tips to be instantly relegated back to the Championship after taking a different approach in the transfer window, signing young, hungry and unproven players they hope can make the step up to the top flight. United have also lost their two best players, selling Iliman Ndiaye and Sander Berge to Marseille and Burnley respectively, and go into this weekend’s opener at home to Crystal Palace with a number of injuries crippling their already-threadbare squad.

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The departures of Ndiaye and Berge, within 10 days of each other on the eve of the new season, led to an outpouring of emotion amongst supporters but Heckingbottom remains level-headed and optimistic, looking only to the future rather than wondering what could have been.

“That’s got to be our focus now,” he said. “Forget everything that’s gone, it’s about going forward and attacking this season. I know the area well enough and this club well enough and do you know what? Usually, in times like this, we can surprise a lot of people.

“So I’m not scared of it or fearing what’s gone off. It’s about this game and it’s exciting me and the players. From this moment on, this point, we should only be getting stronger. That’s if we do the right things.”

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United have faced adversity before. Last season’s automatic promotion from the Championship was achieved against a backdrop of financial instability, that saw suppliers not paid and transfer debts leading to an embargo that scuppered hopes of January reinforcements. Much of the momentum and goodwill generated by that second-placed finish has evaporated in the months since, but Heckingbottom is keen to ensure his players grasp the opportunity ahead of them.

“We worked hard to get here,” he added. “I don’t think we can let anyone forget that. There have been a lot of things happening in these two years, a hell of a lot, but we’ve achieved what we wanted to achieve. It’s benefitted a lot of people at the club and a lot of players, and now we want to take that opportunity and grasp it.

“We’re on the biggest stage and that’s why it’s important that I’m fighting and pushing to give us the best possible chance. We know how hard it’s going to be, and how disciplined we have to be, and how good we have to be in the training ground, and how many things we have to get right on a matchday.

“But we’ve got three weeks of the transfer window left, to give us an even better chance. It’s an exciting time but probably the next time I take a breath is when the window closes and now think: ‘Right, let’s get going.’”

There is a sense of unfinished business around United and the Premier League, with their last experience of the top-flight a painful relegation during the Covid-19 pandemic - which forced them to play almost an entire season in empty stadia, robbing them of the valuable support from the stands that had been a major factor in their ninth-placed finish just a year earlier.

“Maybe you can use that phrase,” Heckingbottom added. “It’s certainly something I want the players to grasp, for lots of different reasons. For people who’ve been there before and people who’ve worked hard to get here and want to stay here. People in the last year of their contracts and want to be in the best possible position, professionally, without a doubt.

“But the big message is that we don’t do it on our own. We just don’t. Every one of the players realises that we all need each other to help stay in the Premier League, to help perform at our best. For everyone’s circumstances.

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“There’s a lot of motivation there and a lot of reasons why us achieving promotion last season was really satisfying. You can still see that in a lot of the boys but we want to add to that and make sure we bring in some hungry players as well.

“That’s what I’d say forget everything, come and enjoy it. Everyone enjoyed the promotion and the celebrations, and everyone knows how hard we worked, now we’ve got to enjoy it. To do that we’ve got to give our best every week, but we want the response from everyone. Because we’ve all worked so hard to get here.

“I think the fans realise how important they are to us, and we also know what the fans want to see and the part we play in a special atmosphere at Bramall Lane. We’re going to need that all season. Every game is big and is going to be important. And we’re determined to make the most of it.”