Sheffield United: Live updates from Slavisa Jokanovic's pre-Middlesbrough press conference

Sander is still doubtful and he hasn’t started working with us. I hope he’ll start Tuesday with the team.

I have a lot of questions about Billy Sharp, you know him better than me. His numbers are really impressive and he showed the personality at the end against Derby. He is my logical choice, his attitude will encourage other people to push harder and be in the team too. It’s not about if he scores or not, he’s a clever man and reads the game very well. His movement is very good and he wants to be at the highest possible level.

Yes I am pleased. We cannot trust some people around us who try to give us the message that we are strong and it will be easy for us because nothing is easy. We must be fully motivated, we have two hard away games ahead of us and if we are not focused enough or arrogant and believe we are a very good team, it will not necessarily be so. I know we have made some important progress but there is a huge gap in front of us and what we are doing now is not enough to fight for the target we are fighting for.

I am not a manager who prefers this shape or the other, it is what my players can do. I have some details from the club’s history but what I have in my hands is clear. I miss some positions and must balance more. A footballer can play a different way, depending on their characteristics. It’s about time for coaches and players and even supporters, to understand the way the team plays. We are unsatisfied with our start to the season. We lost some and had some hard defeats.

I have not spoken with Billy about this situation, I try for myself to know the reason and have more or less some explanation with Billy’s Forest past, I am focused on different things. Billy is a strong enough guy and he’s not thinking a lot about things behind us. In general I find a lot of respect from working in this country and I hope we don’t experience this in the future.

It’s not about understanding or not understanding, it’s about work and competing. The process never stops, what is fresh in the players’ minds can be a problem in a few weeks. You have to repeat things and make them understand better. Football is for clever people and you must understand why we are doing something, what the benefits are. We have found some progress in the last few days only and we must keep going in the days and months ahead of us.

Part of football is to perform well and perform badly. Win the game and lose the game. We found some way to improve and progress and we have to keep going forward, not think about what has gone. In football there is good and bad, we need to be ready for the next game and look ahead of us with some optimism. The job is never done, it’s always in the process and I have been here for longer than two months now. I am ready for the bad and the good, you must keep working and follow the process.

Here are some of the key points that were discussed ahead of the Blades’ trip to Middlesbrough...

I’ve got a lot of Championship experience but not a lot at the top end, and I wanted a challenge. I saw United had a top manager and kept a lot of their players, and they also wanted me as well.

Every game will be tough, they have some good players and it’s never easy going away from home. Hopefully we can put our ideas in the game.