Sheffield United: West Bromwich Albion's new head coach could have a problem ahead of Blades clash
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Having taken charge of a squad languishing 23rd in the Championship, Corberan is hoping to start his reign with a win when the two teams meet at The Hawthorns tomorrow.
However the Spaniard, who worked with Heckingbottom during the 44-year-old’s spell in charge of Leeds, has had precious little time to prepare for the contest after only being presented to Albion’s players on Tuesday.
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Hide Ad“How long it really takes to stamp your mark can be different,” said Heckingbottom, who won his first three matches with United after succeeding Slavisa Jokanovic 11 months ago. “Until you really start working with players, you just don’t know. Someone who you think might be able to adapt quickly could require a little more time and that, even though you’ll have ideas, could force a change of formation or a change of role. Others might grasp what you’re looking for straight away. You’ll have ideas in your head. But, until you get out there and work with them, it’s impossible to know if you’ll be able to immediately implement them.”
Corberan returns to England following a short spell with Greek giants Olympiacos, who he joined over the summer after leading Huddersfield Town into the play-off final. United also qualified for the end of term knockouts, losing to eventual victors Nottingham Forest on penalties at the semi-final stage. Initially, they showed no ill-effects from that disappointing result, entering the recent international break three points clear of second place. However, after taking only three points from their six outings since then, United travel to the Midlands in fifth.
“It’s difficult to know how they’re going to go about it,” continued Heckingbottom, referring to Albion. “We can get all sorts of information and keep on doing it and doing it. But then is there anything to be gained from passing all of that on, because we’d only be guessing.
“But we do know certain things, such as their threats and their personnel. So we’re not going in without any idea. The main thing we’ll be looking to do is make it about us, and emphasise the fact we want to do the things we know we can do and we know we’re good at.”
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Hide AdDespite welcoming defenders Ciaran Clark and Enda Stevens back to training following long absences, United remain without a number of influential performers through injury including Sander Berge, Jayden Bogle, Rhys Norrington-Davies and Max Lowe while goalkeeper Wes Foderingham is suspended. Adam Davies, who missed August’s Carabao Cup tie at Albion as he recovered from a fitness issue, will again deputise. Anel Ahmedhodzic and Oliver Norwood enter the contest one booking away from triggering an automatic ban but Foderingham will be available for selection when United face Bristol City on Tuesday night.
Conceding he is “surprised”by Albion’s results since the beginning of the season, Heckingbottom said: “To be fair, it’s fine margins. This division is so tight. It’s strong. What you do know is, for them, it will just feel different with Carlos coming in. I don’t know why but it just does.”