Sheffield United: Blades keen to keep Billy Sharp at peak of his goalscoring powers

Sharp was a substitute on Tuesday for the first time since manager Paul Heckingbottom’s first game in November, when he scored, but at 36 they need to manage him in a way that allows him to live up to his name.

With targetman Oli McBurnie staring, the Blades created 22 chances against the Tigers, bringing Sharp on in the 68th minute, but drew a blank for the second consecutive game.

“With the workload he’s been going through, we need to keep Billy fit and firing on all cylinders,” said Heckingbottom.

“We need Billy to be right at his peak if we are going to achieve what we want to achieve.

“So that, and the fact that Hull City are down towards the bottom of the aerial duel stats in the division, persuaded us to do something a little bit different and give Billy a break.”

Sharp has 11 Championship goals this season. Morgan Gibbs-White is the Blades’ next highest scorer with five, and the next-best centre-forwards are Rhian Brewster and Lys Mousset, whose Blades seasons both look over. David McGoldrick has two and McBurnie none.

Midfielder Conor Hourihane felt the failure to convert the chances he and others created was the only negative of an otherwise good performance.

“We had chances, there’s no point naming any names on who missed them or what chances were missed,” he said. “We created them, that’s a positive.

“It was one of those nights when if we got one, it probably would have ended up being two or three. We just couldn’t get that goal and that happens sometimes. If you don’t win them, you at least take a point and move on.”