Sheffield United v Bristol City: Hard work is key to winning Paul Heckingbottom’s favour

Paul Heckingbottom says he wants to see “hunger” from his Sheffield United players as he takes charge of them for the second time this year at home to Bristol City tomorrow.

The first spell was an 11-match caretaker stint fighting the tide of near-inevitable relegation from the Premier League last season but this time he is the manager on a five-and-a-half year contract.

Heckingbottom’s brief is much wider than predecessor Slavisa Jokanovic’s but lifting the club from 16th in the Championship to promotion contenders remains the priority.

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“The fact we won (at Reading on Tuesday) is a good thing, in terms of the points total, the players’ belief,” he reflected.

Paul Heckingbottom unveiled as the new manager of Sheffield United (Picture: Simon Bellis/Sportimage)Paul Heckingbottom unveiled as the new manager of Sheffield United (Picture: Simon Bellis/Sportimage)
Paul Heckingbottom unveiled as the new manager of Sheffield United (Picture: Simon Bellis/Sportimage)

“I’ve got two days with them before the game. My approach will be the same as last time.

“I always want to see hard work, I want to see people taking responsibility and being judged on that, making people accountable for their work, their effort and their standards, but I want to see smiles on faces again, from everyone across the club.

“You only do that by winning and you only win by working hard.

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“It’s the hungriest teams that are successful, always, but if it was that easy everyone would just take a tablet.

Hard work key to winning Paul Heckingbottom's favour (Picture: Simon Bellis/Sportimage)Hard work key to winning Paul Heckingbottom's favour (Picture: Simon Bellis/Sportimage)
Hard work key to winning Paul Heckingbottom's favour (Picture: Simon Bellis/Sportimage)

“Regardless of a strategy that I do believe in – and I think the club needs to go down the route of not only safeguarding its future but putting things in place to outperform every other football club, that’s the priority – in the 
short-term it’s results, it’s this season.

“For me, that’s the focus and that’s what the fans want to see.

“They’ll be here on Sunday to watch their team win.

“The Championship’s unforgiving and we have to be on it and make sure we can deliver three points to send the fans away happy.”

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Jokanovic switched to three at the back in his last few games, and fans can expect more of that tomorrow.

“We played variations of it last season and I probably see the same, whether it’s 3-5-2, 
3-4-3, 3-4-1-2,” said Heckingbottom, who will be assisted by Stuart McCall and Jack Lester.

“We did have changes if we were chasing a game and went to another formation. I want to try and build on that and make sure we get the most out of this squad. We want to make sure every player feels like they’ve got an opportunity and they can earn a place in the team.

“It will be a similar mentality that we tried to get last season.”

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