Sheffield United: Paul Heckingbottom's big confidence gamble ahead of Coventry City clash
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United were swept aside 4-1 when they faced Mark Robins’ side towards the end of last season, with goalkeeper Wes Foderingham facing 14 shots on target and making a series of spectacular saves.
Speaking immediately after that contest, Heckingbottom described the nature of the goals United conceded as “terrible”, before confessing their opponents had “defended better” and “attacked better” despite finishing the contest with a lower possession percentage.
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Hide AdDespite preparing for their latest trip to Warwickshire ranked second in the Championship, United have failed to win since the recent international break. But rather than seeking to safeguard their confidence levels by exorcising the ghost of March’s outing in the Midlands, Heckingbottom told The Star he has discussed it with his squad at length as they prepare to return.
“We’ve used it because Coventry, having done that, will probably go for a similarity in style,” said Heckingbottom, suggesting Robins will use City’s display that day as a template for this contest. “There’s a lot of threats that Coventry pose and, that day, it was as bad as I can remember us being without the ball. So of course we’ve spoken about it. Of course we speak about it. As we do with every other team we face, we look at previous games and such like.”
United were three points above second place when the domestic schedule was paused at the end of September. But with injuries finally beginning to take their toll - nine players could be absent against City due to fitness issues while Foderingham is suspended after being sent-off following Saturday’s draw against Blackpool - they have taken only two from a possible 12 since. Wales international Adam Davies will replace Foderingham between the posts.
After showing United’s squad some of the statistics surrounding their matches so far at the Randox Health Academy on Monday, Heckingbottom believes improving “out of possession” holds the key to rediscovering their best form.
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Hide Ad“It’s not rocket science, it’s winning tackles, tracking runs and following runners,” he said. Similarly, marking in set plays. I’m not a big one for stats. But we are first for goals, first for XG’s, first for shots and goals off high-regains and other things. That paints a picture about the type of team we want to be.”
“Brilliant,” he added. “So why aren’t we top of the league? Stats don’t measure when you haven’t made that tackle or that run. That’s why I’m not too big on them. It’s little moments. We’ve been punished for errors. That’s the reminder.”
City are bottom of the table, but Heckingbottom attributes that “false position” to the fact the start of their campaign was disrupted by an issue with their home ground’s pitch following the Commonwealth Games.
Insisting Robins has done a “terrific job there”, Heckingbottom said: “We now the things they do well, we know how they like to stay up the pitch and how their centre-halves like to defend the box, how their central midfielders look to lock on to our central midfielders.”