Why Sheffield United are welcoming the threat West Brom pose as they look to seal Premier League return
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Second in the Championship table and four points ahead of third placed Luton Town with four matches remaining, United know that a win over Carlos Corberan’s men will guarantee them automatic promotion back to the Premier League ahead of Saturday’s game against Preston North End.
Like Albion, the Lancastrians are also hoping to secure a top-six finish which prompted Paul Heckingbottom to last night predict that neither they nor Albion will attempt to simply stifle his team’s creativity.
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Hide Ad“Our next two home games are teams chasing the play-off positions, but we like that competitiveness and we want that,” the United manager said. “We are determined to get the job done in these two games. That’s what we want to achieve. They are both at home and, if possible, we want to get that job done in front of our own fans so we can all celebrate together.”
That was as close as Heckingbottom came during his latest media briefing today to acknowledging how close United are to realising their ambition of going up. Instead, he preferred to focus on the challenge Corberan’s side will pose. Citing October’s 2-0 victory at The Hawthorns as an “important moment” in United’s campaign, not least because it ended a run of six outings without a victory, he continued: “We actually played some of our best stuff, going into West Brom at their place, when we stopped that sequence. What that was, it was a reminder that you have to have so many good parts to your game in order to get what you want.”
Albion have prepared for their visit to South Yorkshire in ninth while North End are 10th. United conclude their campaign with trips to Huddersfield Town and Birmingham City.
“If it’s tight, and we are in front, then I don’t think West Brom are just going to give up on it,” Heckingbottom said. “They’re going to come right at us. The same as, if they are up, then we’re going to come right at them.”