Sheffield United's key pledge ahead of potentially "historic" week

After taking an important step towards securing automatic promotion from the Championship by beating Sunderland this week, United’s focus has now turned towards trying to reach Wembley by dispatching Jon Dahl Tomasson’s side.

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With Heckingbottom warning that the battle for top-flight football will grow increasingly tense as the season enters its finishing straight, the 45-year-old has told his players to relish the opportunity of competing in a competition which has a “totally different feel.”

“That’s the way we’ve approached it up until now,” Heckingbottom admitted, as United chase success on two fronts. “In the cup, we can go about things with a lot more freedom and be a lot less anxious. That’s the way we are planning to continue.

“It’s not every day that you get to an FA Cup quarter-final. So it’s something to savour and relish.

“With everything else that’s going on, this could be a really historic period for the lads and the club as a whole. So we want to embrace it. Soak every up. Enjoy it and show what we can do.”

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Second in the table, United moved six points clear of third placed Middlesbrough following their triumph at the Stadium of Light where goals from James McAtee and Tommy Doyle saw them come from behind to win 2-1. However, that gap could be cut to three with Michael Carrick’s men in league action on Saturday. United will resume their push for top-flight football with a visit to Norwich City on April 1st.

Heckingbottom’s squad had suffered a dip in form ahead of their outing to the North-East, with Rovers one of the teams to beat them in recent weeks.

“It (the run-in) will get anxious because of the situation we are in,” he said. “It will for everyone, that’s for certain. The cup, we’ve treated as something totally separate and that’s benefited us so far. We want to go through. We want to make the most of this.”

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