'Lost our identity' - Paul Heckingbottom reflects on Sheffield United exit as he makes Luton Town comparison

Promotions regularly bring about change and many are exciting for clubs for venturing into new territory. However, Sheffield United fans were left deflated as influential duo Sander Berge and Iliman Ndiaye were sold as the start of the season approached.

Long-serving duo Enda Stevens and Billy Sharp were also allowed to move on, while defender Jack O'Connell retired due to injury. Squad changes are routine in summer windows but Heckingbottom feels there was a loss of identity at Bramall Lane.

Speaking on talkSPORT, he said: “I knew it was going to be tough. Even taking the job on in the Championship, I knew it was going to be tough. We were in a really difficult situation financially. Some things, you’ve just got to deal with. Then you get promoted to the Premier League and you’ve gone up a level and then all of a sudden you really are competing.

"Even if you’ve got all the tools at your disposal, you’re competing against the best. We lost seven of the squad that went up, that was the big thing, all those high-profile players leaving towards the end of the window.

Sign up to our new Sports Editor’s TeamTalk newsletter available this week

"But I look at how someone like Luton have gone on – to try and build on what you’ve been doing really, really well, Luton have kept their squad together, recruited in a similar fashion to try and build an identity. We sort of lost our identity, through just the financial problems that we had at the club.”

Eyebrows were raised at some of the business conducted by the Blades last summer, with the sale of Berge to Premier League rivals Burnley proving particularly controversial.

He was entering the final year of his Blades contract and Heckingbottom has admitted there was “no way” the Norway international was going to be allowed to leave on a free transfer.

He explained: "There was no way the club was willing to let these top players, who are worth a lot of money, go on a free transfer the following year, because we were in a tough situation. It meant they went the week before we the start of the season, which is tough when you’re going up into this league.”

When Sheffield United dismissed Heckingbottom, they opted to bring Chris Wilder back to South Yorkshire in a bid to arrest their slump. However, fortunes have not improved and Heckingbottom has admitted it is “looking tough” for his former club.

He said: “I’ve not spoken to him [Wilder] since he’s gone in - I’ve not spoke to him. Listen, I want the club to do well and stay up - but it’s looking tough.”