What Sheffield United boss said about John Egan's red card v Coventry City as Blades march on

United moved eight points clear of third-placed Blackburn Rovers by beating the Sky Blues, who saw a penalty saved by Wes Foderingham before star man Viktor Gyokeres made amends somewhat by pulling a goal back.

Heckingbottom's men finished the game with 10 men after Egan saw red for twice fouling Gyokeres, meaning the Blades will be without him on Thursday evening when they travel to Blackpool's Bloomfield Road.

And the Blades chief said: "I was only half-watching but I've not heard any complaints, which makes me think it's a second booking.

Blades player ratings v Coventry City as four star men get 8/10

"I'm not 100 per cent sure but I'm going off everyone's reaction and when I watch it back I wouldn't be surprised to see that he checked Gyokeres."

A quiet game burst into life when United went ahead through James McAtee, after good work from Iliman Ndiaye. Ciaran Clark headed United 2-0 ahead from Ollie Norwood's superb free-kick, before Tommy Doyle scored in front of the Kop with his first touch after coming off the bench.

"The first goal was a real big moment," Heckingbottom said. "Coventry paid us a lot of respect by changing how they played and slowing it down, so we had to take control and the goal settled us down. We were good from that point.

"Look at Ollie's delivery for Ciaran's header, Sander [Berge] with his cross for the third goal, and Tommy scores with his first touch. We have players with big moments in them. Even defensively. A big tackle from Anel [Ahmedhodzic], Wes's penalty save. I think that's why we have been in decent form."

Victory over the Sky Blues, combined with Rovers' defeat at Sunderland earlier in the day, saw United move eight points clear of Jon Dahl Tomasson's side ahead of their trip to Bloomfield Road on Thursday, where they will look to continue their push for promotion back to the Premier League after being relegated early last year.