Sheffield United: The gauntlet thrown down by coaching staff ahead of final friendlies
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Speaking after watching his side beaten 3-0 by Mansfield Town last night, a result which came a little over 72 hours following their 3-2 defeat at Scunthorpe, manager Paul Heckingbottom told The Star the parameters he is using to judge United’s work have now changed.
After contesting the penultimate match of their summer programme at the Pirelli Stadium on Friday, United travel to Oakwell a day later before focusing exclusively on August 1st’s assignment in Hertfordshire.
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Despite insisting results at this stage of their preparations “aren’t important” - “If they were, then we wouldn’t be playing these matches back to back” - Heckingbottom said: “Habits. That’s what we will be looking at.
“I’ve seen certain parts of our defending that I don’t want to see. If I see it in these ones, then it affects the team against Watford. That’s the biggest change.”
Despite boasting one of the Championship’s strongest defences last term and adding Anel Ahmedhodzic and Ciaran Clark to their squad, United’s rearguard has now been breached six times in only 180 minutes of football against opponents from the National League and League Two.
Stressing that the emphasis during wins over Casa Pia and Lincoln City at the beginning of their schedule was also placed on fitness and conditioning, Heckingbottom added: “We’ve done a lot of hard work. The players, credit to them, have really bought into it and pushed themselves.”