Sheffield United v Hull City: John Egan's Blades experience guiding Tigers' Premier League push

Signed from Brentford for £4m in 2018, it is no exaggeration to call the Republic of Ireland centre-back a modern-day Blades great, playing more than 200 league games before a serious Achilles injury coincided with the end of his contract and the need to refresh the squad.

The Blades' loss was ultimately the Tigers' gain.

After a short spell at Burnley, Egan joined Hull in 2025 and the experience he picked up twice taking the Blades into the Premier League is being put to good use once more.

They go to Bramall Lane on Saturday looking to cement their place in the Championship play-off places.

"It's about focussing on the next game and not taking the foot off the pedal," says Egan, who reached the 2023 play-offs with the Blades either side of two automatic promotions. "Every day, every training session, every match is important.

"You have to be 100 per cent on it because I always find the last three or four weeks of the season, the results are a bit all over the place.

"Teams are scrapping at the bottom to try and get out of it, teams are at the top trying to get promoted, players in the middle of the table are playing for their futures at their clubs. Everyone has a reason to give 100 per cent.

"As experienced players, we can only pass that on to the rest.

"We can't have one moment where we're relaxing or we're not concentrating. As you've seen in the Championship this year, it's a level playing field. Any team can beat anyone."

Having been reunited with former Blades team-mates John Lundstram and Oli McBurnie in a side also featuring ex-Middlesbrough players Paddy McNair and Matt Crooks, as well as captain Lewie Coyle, any less experienced player losing focus can expect to be dealt with quickly.

"If there was any of that, someone probably would say something," says Egan, now 33. "To be fair, we've got a good group here because the lads are fully focused on training and the next game.

"We've got a really good experienced core of lads, really good young players and players in their mid-20s. It's a really well-balanced squad.

"We have lads who have played a lot of games and lads making their breakthrough first two or three seasons at this level. We've got lads in between who are fantastic players looking to progress their career and try and get to the Premier League.

"The young lads bring the energy, we bring the experience and then it all kind of blends in well together.

"The main thing is the character of the group. We don't have any bad eggs. Everybody is giving 100 per cent in training every day and that's the most important thing."

Egan epitomises that character.

"He’s played almost 50 games this season together with the national team, which is unbelievable," says his coach, Sergej Jakirovic.

"No matter if he's on the pitch or off the pitch, he's always supportive of the other players. It's his leadership and he knows the league, which is crucial.

"Also, he scored some very important goals – Swansea away for the point, 3-2 Derby County (before Lewis Koumas added a fourth). This is not his job but he knows how to use his moments.

"In January he had some offers (to leave), but in the end nothing concrete so I was very happy."

Keeping focus could be harder than usual for Egan, given this big game for Hull is at Bramall Lane.

"Some of the best times of my life and career were at Sheffield United," he says. "I'll always be a Sheffield United fan, just not at three o'clock this Saturday for a couple of hours. It'll be a bit emotional going back to Bramall Lane again.

"I've got nothing but good things to say about Sheffield United. Because of the success we had together, it'll always be a special club to me and the fans will always be special to me. I'm looking forward to the game. Hopefully we can get a result."

He has been back before, with Burnley last season.

"It was a bit weird walking into the away dressing room," he admits. “I came on for the last 15 minutes and the fans were really good to me. They showed me a lot of support.

"It probably shows how close the team and the fans were during my period at the club. A lot of players would probably feel the same going back there from the teams I was in.

"I'm a Hull City player now, I'll be going to Bramall Lane, walking into the away dressing room again, looking to get three points.

"But I've got a lot of love for Sheffield United and the Sheffield United fans."​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​