Why Sheffield United boss has owned up to a big mistake on his part

In a frank admission, which he hopes will encourage his players to remain brave on the ball as they chase automatic promotion from the Championship, the United manager told The Star he was responsible for what proved to be a fractious performance in the south-west when the now departed Reda Khadra was substituted before half-time.

Although Iliman Ndiaye’s goal proved enough to swing November’s contest between the two clubs in United’s favour, Heckingbottom, who later apologised to Khadra for his error, said: “They played well and we weren’t great. I got the team set up wrong and we had to change it.”

Asked why, unlike many of his contemporaries, he is willing to publicly highlight his own errors of judgement, Heckingbottom added: “I don’t like it when people take responsibility for things that have gone right and then try to blame it on others when they don’t. There’s no one here like that because I don’t enjoy having those sorts of people around me. It’s not the environment we wanted to create here and it’s not the environment we have created. In fact, if those are the kind of people I’d probably want to throw straight out of the door.

“We win together and we lose together. I know my own role within that.”

United enter their latest clash with City second in the table and five points clear of third place with five league matches of the season remaining.