Sheffield United: The two players who have forced their way into Paul Heckingbottom's thinking after FA Cup clash

Although United bowed out of the competition at the third round stage - losing to Bruno Lage’s side 3-0 - Heckingbottom insisted there were “plenty of positives” to take from the tie.

They included the sight of youngster Kyron Gordon acquitting himself well against a top-flight attack and also Norrington-Davies thwarting Traore, one of the most physically imposing players in the country, on a number of occasions.

With John Egan and Enda Stevens both forced to miss the contest, Norrington-Davies was drafted into United’s rearguard for the visit to the Midlands and Heckingbottom said: “There were quite a few times, when Rhys was going one on one against Traore on the byline, and he stopped the ball coming into the box. He stopped him coming inside and I’ve not seen too many people do that, even in the Premier League.

“Once we knew that John and Enda were going to be out at the beginning of the week, we worked on a few things with Rhys and and we knew there might be a bit of exposure in that position. There was also a chance others might have had to drop out but I thought he did really well. That was a positive for me, definitely.”

The sight of Egan and Stevens being sidelined not only exposed United’s lack of depth at centre-half but also illustrated why Heckingbottom is keen to bring Heart of Midlothian’s John Souttar to South Yorkshire before the transfer window closes this month. Rangers are also keen on the Scotland international. But with England thought to be Souttar’s preferred destination, United could find themselves battling it out with Blackburn Rovers and Nottingham Forest for his signature, after Stoke City’s interest appeared to cool over the weekend. Souttar’s younger brother Harry already plays for United’s Championship rivals.

With United - 13th in the table but with four matches in hand on sixth placed Huddersfield Town - set to return to league action against Derby County on Saturday, Heckingbottom was also encouraged by Gordon’s contribution.

The teenager as making only his third senior appearance for United, having featured against Carlisle and County in the Carabao Cup earlier this term.

“I thought Kyron coped really well,” Heckingbottom said. “Yes, there were a few areas where you would want him to do things a little differently but that’s to be expected because it’s the difference in levels.”

After threatening to take the lead during the opening exchanges, United fell behind when Daniel Podence scored the first of his two efforts - with a finish from Nelson Semedo sandwiched in between.

“We wanted to still be in the cup, without a shadow of a doubt,” Heckingbottom admitted. “But it’s all on one thing now, we can focus on that and nothing else.

“There’s things we can take away from this with us, going forward. There’s a lot of things we can learn from that, or be reminded about, such as the importance of being clinical in both boxes. But I don’t think it was a 3-0.”