Sheffield United: Important reminder issued to the board ahead of critical period

The 45-year-old, who celebrated the first anniversary of his appointment yesterday, guided his team to second in the Championship before the World Cup break despite a casualty list which saw a dozen senior players miss the win over Cardiff City earlier this month.

With Heckingbottom convinced they will become an even more formidable proposition once the likes of Sander Berge, Max Lowe and Jayden Bogle return to action, United are well-placed to mount a strong challenge during the second half of the campaign.

But a number of important decisions are looming on the horizon, with 16 members of Heckingbottom’s squad approaching the end of their present contracts and Iliman Ndiaye, on duty with Senegal in Qatar, seemingly no closer to extending his agreement which expires in 2024.

Having admitted that he was forced to trim his budget following last term’s defeat in the play-off semi-finals, Heckingbottom understands his employers’ efforts to make United a “self sustainable” club.

Although that could leave him with some tough calls to make in the not-so-distant future, Heckingbottom has nevertheless pledged to work with the board of directors to help fulfil that aim.

But he insisted: “Football always comes first. We’ve always got to put the football first. Because no matter what, it’s results on the pitch that always drive everything else.

“That’s something we’ve always got to keep in mind. It’s certainly something that we’ve been doing lately. We try to have good relationships and we do have those. We are always talking and you don’t always get everything you want, which I accept, even though you always push.

“But football always has to come first. That’s the thing you have to factor into everything.”

With Berge and Lowe thought to be entering the final phase of their respective rehabilitation programmes, United are using the pause in the domestic fixture schedule to try and ensure Tommy Doyle, John Fleck and Oli McBurnie are also declared fit for next month’s game against Huddersfield Town. McBurnie underwent surgery to repair a hernia last week but his recovery could be complicated by the ankle complaint which forced him to sit out the trip to Wales.