Sheffield United: Major investigation underway into concerning issue

Although Heckingbottom suspects he already knows some of the factors behind a problem which ultimately cost United dear in their pursuit of promotion, the 44-year-old has nevertheless commissioned a wide-ranging review into working practices at the Randox Health Academy.

The United manager believes that, providing the recommendations which follow are acted upon, will prevent a repeat of the situation next term when his team will attempt to regain the Premier League status they surrendered 13 months ago.

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“We’re looking at everything,” Heckingbottom said. “And I mean everything, to try and get to the bottom of what happened.

“Some things, we believe, are pretty straightforward. The pitches here have been problematic. There’s been times, when the weather turned, when we’ve not been able to get on them but that’s not the fault of the groundsmen here in any way shape or form.

“But we want to see if there’s anything else that we’ve not thought of. So we’re looking into it, right the way through everything we do.”

Jayden Bogle, Rhian Brewster and David McGoldrick were all unavailable for selection when United were beaten on penalties by Nottingham Forest in the Championship play-off semi-finals, while Billy Sharp also watched from the sidelines. Chris Basham was also ruled-out for a significant period, after suffering ligament damage.

“The workload, when we had a lot of matches called off over Christmas, didn’t help either,” said Heckingbottom.

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