Sheffield United's scary workload means tough choices could have to be made

Speaking ahead of next weekend’s visit to Norwich City, manager Paul Heckingbottom told The Star that research already undertaken by Bramall Lane’s fitness and conditioning department has revealed that members of his squad are most susceptible to fitness issues during away matches - such as the one they will contest at Carrow Road.

United’s preparations for that match, which is of vital importance to both teams’ seasons, will be complicated by the fact that many of those set to be involved will only just have returned from gruelling trips abroad before departing for East Anglia. They include Iliman Ndiaye and Ismaila Coulibaly, who were called-up by Senegal and Mali respectively following last Sunday’s FA Cup victory over Blackburn Rovers.

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“We have looked around the trends, of when we have tended to get injuries, and most of them have come away from home,” Heckingbottom said. “So you have to factor in things like travelling, the load being put on players, the lay-offs which extended the season such as last season’s play-offs and then this season’s World Cup. They are all things we have to keep an eye on and be very mindful of - especially as we have noticed those patterns before. If you want to keep people fit, let alone produce consistent performances, then as much as possible you’ve got to be aware of it.”

Heckingbottom’s words go a long way towards explaining why he has often been minded to rotate his squad since competition resumed in August, even after a positive result. Ndiaye, who if fit is almost certain to start the meeting with David Wagner’s men, will have travelled across three different time zones and around 8,000 miles in less than four days by the time United kick-off against City.

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By reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup, Heckingbottom’s men must now compete, on average, every 3.7 days during the closing stages of a campaign which has also seen them climb to second in the table. Middlesbrough, who are three points behind in third, are scheduled to play once every 4.6 days. The emotional toll that schedule takes will also be huge, particularly for United who are set to face Manchester City in the last four of the world’s most prestigious domestic knockout competition.

“We’ll have moments to recover and we have to make the most of those,” Heckingbottom said. “That’s something we’re also putting an awful lot of time and energy into behind the scenes, because you always want to give everybody the best possible chance of showing what they can do, of producing their best football.”

“Before the World Cup, we squeezed a lot of games in and when you put the (league) cup on top of that, I don’t think it’s any surprise to see lots of clubs suffering (with injuries). More than they usually would.”

“For the international players, and bearing in mind we had around 11 of them away here over the summer as well, it’s been relentless,” he added. “It’s about trying to give people the best chance.”

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