Sheffield United: Why Croatia's Filip Uremovic has adjusted so quickly to life at Bramall Lane

Capped six times by his country at senior level, Uremovic enters Friday’s crucial Championship clash with Reading on the back of two assured displays - against Queens Park Rangers and AFC Bournemouth - since arriving on a short-term basis from Rubin Kazan.

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The 25-year-old was allowed to temporarily suspend his contract with Leonid Slutsky’s side following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and is scheduled to remain at Bramall Lane until June 30.

Although he conceded Uremovic had not even completed a handful of training sessions before being named in the starting eleven which beat Rangers 1-0 before last weekend’s goalless draw with AFC Bournemouth - Heckingbottom told The Star: “You don’t play at the level he has without having good qualities. A lot of those are mental qualities. You know he’s going to read the game well, that’s why he’s a defender.

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“But before he came in, even after he came in, I was sitting down watching videos of him playing against Kylian Mbappe. You’re not going to be facing two many people like that, I think it’s fair to say, in the Championship.”

Reflecting upon Uremovic’s performance during the meeting with Scott Parker’s side, Heckingbottom added: “For him, that match will have shown him the difference between the Championship and the Russian Premier League, the fact there’s more cut and thrust here. But he’s a clever footballer, on top of the ability.”

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United finished the latest round of fixtures in sixth place with five matches remaining on their regular season schedule. Uremovic’s performances mean Heckingbottom can afford not to rush Chris Basham back into action, after the centre-half was diagnosed with medial ligament damage following February’s victory over Swansea City.

Speaking during a recent media briefing at the Randox Academy, Heckingbottom revealed Basham, whose contract expires this summer, has stepped-up his recovery programme but had yet to take part in a full session. United’s medical and conditioning experts will be looking to accelerate his progress ahead of the Easter period, which also sees Heckingbottom’s men travel to Bristol City.

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“For Bash, because it’s not a muscle injury, the big step he’s got to come through is tackling and challenges - things like that,” he said. “He’s been running and working on his own. But that’s the thing we’re going to want to see and he’s going to have to be able to do.”

Uremovic moved to Kazan in 2018 after completing his apprenticeship with Cibalia and Dinamo Zagreb, before a brief spell in Slovenia.

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“He’s 25 and captain of a top club in Russia,” Heckingbottom said. “He’s been playing in a Croatian team full of real stars. On top of that, in eastern Europe, how the bring players through, it’s not as fluffy as some of our youth football so you know they develop into men very quickly. That’s not a criticism of how we do things here. But they do things different over there, in the Balkans and that part of the world.”