Sheffield United: The team talk boss wishes he could give to the fans ahead of huge Fulham clash
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Fifth in the table ahead of their final match of the season and knowing that a win over the visitors will guarantee play-off qualification, United’s manager plans to remind his squad about the importance of working together as a team. One, the 44-year-old stressed ahead of the meeting with Marco Silva’s side, which counts the Bramall Lane fan base among its most prominent members.
“If I could do a team talk to the fans, then I’d have them all in,” Heckingbottom said. “They are a huge part of what we are trying to do and, genuinely, something I don’t think people realise just how huge.
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“I’ve mentioned countless times over the past few months that patience is important. That’s because people have often come here and looked to sit in. Fulham probably won’t do that, they’ll want to express themselves because they’ve earned that right already. But patience is still going to be important for us, because it might be tested at any given moment with what may or may not be happening elsewhere.”
Heckingbottom was referring to the fact that seventh-placed Middlesbrough and Millwall in eighth are only two and three points respectively behind United, entering their meetings with Preston North End and AFC Bournemouth. Although he has asked a member of his backroom staff to keep abreast of the scorelines at Deepdale and the Vitality Stadium, Heckingbottom has admitted he does not want to be informed of them unless they could have a bearing on his tactics or substitutions towards the end of a contest which pits United against opponents already assured of both promotion and the title.
“We’ve got what we wanted, we are playing for something,” said Heckingbottom, reminding that United were 16th when he took charge in November. “Even the supporters, I know it’s going to be nervous for them, but they’d rather have something to play for as well than just knocking the ball about in the sunshine knowing that nothing was resting on it.”