Sheffield United still retain promotion belief as new boy opens up on plan to turn around horror season start
Sheffield United still retain promotion belief as new boy opens up on plan to turn around horror season start
Sheffield United’s players retain the belief that they can still mount a push for promotion from the Championship this season, new striker Danny Ings has insisted, despite their horrendous start to the Ruben Selles era. The Blades have lost all five of the Spaniard’s competitive games since his appointment earlier this summer.
That run has sparked calls for United’s owners to call a premature end to their experiment but indications at present are that they will stand by their man, having sanctioned four new signings on deadline day yesterday to bolster Selles’ squad.
The arrivals of Alex Matos, Chieo Ogbene, Mark McGuinness and Ben Mee have at least regained a bit of optimism amongst the fanbase but Selles now has few, if any, excuses if United’s form continues when the season restarts at Ipswich Town a week on Friday.
Another player whose signing has helped freshen up United is experienced striker Danny Ings, who was quickly snapped up on a free transfer after a period training with the Blades and made his debut off the bench in Saturday’s defeat at Middlesbrough.
Sheffield United still retain promotion belief as new boy opens up on plan to turn around horror season start
United’s No.9 still has a role to play on the pitch as he looks to prolong a career that has taken him from a loan spell at Dorchester Town to the highs of signing for Liverpool and scoring for England. But as one of just three players in United’s squad over 30, he can also add some much-needed experience after the departures of Kieffer Moore and Jack Robinson this summer.
“I really believe that football is based on momentum,” said Ings. “Sometimes that’s bad and sometimes it’s good momentum. I think it’s about learning as a group, how we can change it. The first step is sticking to the basics.
“The hard work has to be there, I think over everything. It doesn’t matter how much talent you have in the dressing room, you need the hard work, or it’s never going to happen in football at any level.
“It has been a difficult start but from what I’ve seen, everyone is working so hard to try and turn it around, from the manager to everyone out on the training pitch. That’s how I know we will turn it around. It’s just a matter of time.”
Asked if he was still confident that United could turn around their current fortunes and still achieve their objective this season, which boss Selles has already admitted was promotion after last term’s play-off final loss, three-cap England international Ings added: “I think one hundred per cent we can.
“There are so many games left and if we go on a run of wins, this period’s forgotten about. You know what the Championship’s like, games coming thick and fast. There’s no reason, with this group, that we can’t go on and run and win two, three, four or five games in a row. It’s just the way this league is. For us it’s just about building momentum and trying to get up the league as quick as we can.”