Sheffield United boss’s bullish promotion message amid Middlesbrough challenge

Paul Heckingbottom has sent a bullish message about how his Sheffield United need to approach the promotion run-in, insisting: 'We can't be scared of the opportunity'.

United's push for the Premier League resumes this weekend after a two-week international break, when they travel to Norwich City looking to consolidate their grip on second place. Heckingbottom's men are three points ahead of nearest challengers Middlesbrough, with a game in hand.

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With nine league games of their regular season remaining, it is shaping up to be an exciting end to the season for United - especially when factoring in their FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City next month at Wembley, on April 22.

And Heckingbottom said: "It's why you're here, as a footballer. You've got to enjoy it and all the feelings that come with it.

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"You can't be scared of these games, if you go a goal down or whatever. That's why we're here.

"We'd all take this over being mid-table or bottom of the league. This is what it's all about and it does raise everything, in terms of expectation and standards and how hard we have to work.

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"But let's go and enjoy it, and attack every game. I sounded boring with the players when I was speaking to them about this; because when you stop playing; this is what you want to be doing.

"You'd give anything to be back doing it. You've got to have a mindset of 'This is why I'm here'. Give everything, and recover and train properly and then go again. That's the mood we're going to be in now."

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