Verdict: What Sheffield United did at Norwich City which will trouble Middlesbrough and Luton the most

But the most revealing ones, in terms of the battle for automatic promotion at least, occurred during the closing stages of the contest. Reacting to the changes being made by Norwich City’s coaching staff, as they tried and failed to provoke some sort of telling response, the visitors were able to introduce a quartet of players oozing with knowledge, nous and experience.

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It was something not lost on Paul Heckingbottom, who later conceded it was comforting to be able to call upon the likes of Billy Sharp, Oliver Norwood, John Fleck and Chris Basham towards the end of a match which saw second placed United move six points clear of third. Or David Wagner, with the City manager insisting their presence on the bench underlined the depth of talent and, perhaps even more importantly as another Championship season draws to a close, wisdom at his opposite number’s disposal. All four of United’s substitutes are veterans of the club’s last march into the top-flight four years ago.

“To be able to bring people like Ollie on, Billy and the rest, it’s great to have that know-how,” Heckingbottom conceded. “There’s never any panic when you’ve got people like that on the pitch because they know exactly what’s required and bring real calm.”

With Middlesbrough suffering a shock defeat at Huddersfield Town, United’s victory might have been slender in terms of margin. But, with only eight league outings remaining on their schedule, the effect it has on the final standings could be positively huge.

Heckingbottom described play-off chasing City as “dangerous” before making the trip to Norfolk. Although they saw plenty of the ball, Wagner’s men failed to prise apart a rearguard expertly marshalled by John Egan, Anel Ahmedhoidzic and Jack Robinson. United, by contrast, appeared much more threatening; striking the woodwork either side of McAtee’s conversion.

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“Industry-wise, I think things were pretty equal,” Wagner said. “Still, we lost to the better team. One I am convinced will go up because of where they are and the things I’ve just seen.”

Heckingbottom also impressed, making a tactical adjustment during the half-time interval which helped unlock United’s potential. Despite the pressure of the occasion, which cranked-up another notch when Carrow Road’s PA announcer confirmed Middlesbrough were leading at the break, the cool heads on the pitch were supported by some equally clear thinking inside the technical area.

“I liked our mentality,” said Heckingbottom, whose celebrations when the final whistle blew betrayed the significance of the scoreline. “But I was a bit frustrated to begin with because, although we were doing well, everything we did was in front of Norwich and we weren’t really getting behind them as much as we wanted. We weren’t bringing our front three into things as much as we’d have liked.”

“We dropped Macca (McAtee) into a deeper midfield role in the second-half,” he added. “That enabled us to get more bodies around the ball and I think you saw the difference.”

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