Sheffield United man teases approach for Erling Haaland and Co. after Premier League promotion

Goalkeeper coach Matt Duke has jokingly revealed how he will prime Sheffield United’s stoppers for the challenge of facing the likes of Erling Haaland next season after the Blades’ promotion to the Premier League.

But Duke also provided an interesting insight into United’s mentality ahead of their challenge against some of the world’s best players, after two years away in the Championship.

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In case anyone needed it, treble-chasing Manchester City issued a reminder of the quality United will face next season in their FA Cup semi-final at Wembley, when United kept Haaland off the scoresheet but still succumbed 3-0 to Riyad Mahrez’s hat-trick.

And, asked how he plans to prepare Wes Foderingham for the challenge of facing strikers of that calibre on a more frequent basis, Duke smiled: “I’ll just smash balls at him really hard.”

“It’s amazing,” the Sheffield-born former Blade continued. “The Premier League is where everyone wants to be. We’ve all seen the quality there every week.

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“We played City a bit back and to be honest, they’re a bit of a joke with how good they are. But we’ll accept the challenge and can’t wait to come up against people like that every week.”

Duke, speaking at The Star’s Football Awards after United received the ‘team of the season’ gong, reserved special praise for Foderingham and his understudy Adam Davies, the Welsh international who had to accept a bit-part role last season and made only 10 appearances in all competitions when Foderingham was suspended or rested.

“We just put the sessions on and tell them what’s expected of them,” Duke added. “They’re the ones who put the performances in and we can all see how Wes has come on. Adam trains really hard and when he was called upon this season, he’s delivered as well.”

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