Paul Heckingbottom has his say on Sheffield United "must-win" theory v Burnley after Bournemouth shocker

Sheffield United's sorry defeat at home to Bournemouth on Saturday has placed "must-win" importance on this weekend's trip to bottom club Burnley for many Blades fans - but boss Paul Heckingbottom does not necessarily agree. United moved four points adrift of safety after their 3-1 loss at home to the Cherries.

United have the rare luxury this weekend of facing a club going through similar struggles, with Burnley bottom of the table and having lost their last seven games in all competitions. They have also lost all seven of their home league games since being promoted alongside United earlier this year - although, curiously, the outside criticism and ridicule levelled at United earlier in the campaign has not reached Turf Moor just yet.

What is clear from a United perspective is that they cannot afford the same passive performance that was their undoing against Bournemouth in another seismic survival clash against another of their fellow strugglers. Boss Heckingbottom made no secret of his desire for the Blades to be better, but stopped short of agreeing that Burnley is a must-win clash.

"Listen, with the position we're in, we don't have the luxury of just building up certain games, or thinking that beating [their rivals] is all it takes," the Blades boss said. "We need to take as many points as possible, from as many teams as possible. Who they come against, I'm not really bothered. The fact Burnley is the next game makes it an important one but the next game after that would always be important.

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"I wish we were playing in midweek. I want to get this game out of my system and out of the players' systems. We know it's going to be difficult, but we know we've got to be better than that. It is a big game because it's the next game, it is a big game because we know we need to perform better than that to give ourselves a chance."

Heckingbottom also rejected the excuse that the international break robbed United of the momentum that had been gained by four points from their two games preceding it, at home to Wolves and away at Brighton. "You can say so now, but it also allowed us to get one or two players back," he said.

"You can see Oli [McBurnie] and Anel [Ahmedhodzic] need more minutes but they'll be better for the game. I don't tend to lose too much sleep over the international breaks other than hoping the players come back fit and well."