Sheffield United respond to Premier League stress test claim ahead of Spurs FA Cup tie
With his Sheffield United squad second in the Championship table and on course for automatic promotion back to the Premier League, Paul Heckingbottom has denied Wednesday’s FA Cup tie against Tottenham Hotspur will be a gauge of the South Yorkshire club’s readiness for top-flight football.
Instead, speaking ahead of the meeting with Antonio Conte’s side, Heckingbottom claimed he is “more interested” in seeing how United’s players respond to the challenge of facing “world class” talent than judging them against the likes of Richarlison, Son Heung-min and England captain Harry Kane.
Admitting he is “excited” about the prospect of locking horns with opponents who, on current form, are the fourth best team in the country, Heckingbottom said: “In terms of being something to judge us by, no, that isn’t the big thing for me. From a personal point of view, the intrigue for me is who responds and who steps up to what we are asking them to do.”
MORE: Mentality is key
With defender Ciaran Clark the latest to be struck down by the bug which has been causing a problem behind the scenes at United’s training ground in recent weeks, Heckingbottom’s room for manoeuvre in terms of selection is set to be tighter than he might have liked, with coaching staff balancing the demands of facing Spurs against the importance of Saturday’s visit to Blackburn Rovers. United enter the clash with Conte’s men on the back of a win over Watford, which saw them move seven points clear of third placed Middlesbrough with a game in hand.
“The great thing for me of late is that the things we’ve been working on in training, we’ve seen them work on the pitch as well,” said Heckingbottom. “We’re going to need that to happen again.”
"Ciaran is ill,” Heckingbottom continued, suggesting he is preparing to make changes for the fixture. “He’s not been in today and we’ve got a few missing. It’s frustrating because we’ve had a few bodies back with the tight schedule. You just try and prevent it spreading but players want to play. Practices have got a bit better since Covid, which help, rather than just having people coming in and mixing.”
