Sheffield United: Sander Berge is told he must do more of this ahead of semi-final against Nottingham Forest
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Berge, who is expected to start the first leg of United’s semi-final against Nottingham Forest on Saturday afternoon, netted his fifth of the season during last weekend’s 4-0 victory over Fulham.
The Norway international’s much-improved form has come at an opportune moment for Heckingbottom, whose team must negotiate their way past Forest and then either Huddersfield Town or Luton Town in order to reach the Premier League.
The upturn in form
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Hide AdAlthough the former Barnsley, Leeds and Hibernian chief thinks Berge is now beginning to show why United paid £22m to sign him two years ago, he believes there is still plenty more to come from the midfielder who appeared in both the Champions League and Europa League during a spell with Genk.
“Sander is a big player for us,” Heckingbottom told The Star. “His athleticism, his calmness are both important.
“To be honest, I actually want him to be scoring more goals for us. As far as I’m concerned, he should be scoring almost every single week, every single game, because of the positions he is now getting into.”
The big test now
After enjoying a purple path in March, netting three times in four outings, Berge had gone nine matches without a goal before the meeting with Marco Silva’s side. Beating the best team in the division - Fulham arrived in South Yorkshire having already wrapped up the title - meant United finished fifth in the table; one place and five points behind Forest.
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Hide AdAfter hosting their rivals from the east Midlands, United contest the return leg at the City Ground next Tuesday.
Heckingbottom, who began preparing his squad for “two tough encounters” yesterday, said: “We changed Sander’s position a little bit not so long back and so now, he’s getting in the areas much easier where he can do damage. He can clearly finish and we want him to be doing that a lot more, because he’s definitely got the ability to do it.
"That’s the next challenge for him and it’s one I know he can achieve.”