Lys Mousset must make 'sacrifices' warns Sheffield United boss Paul Heckingbottom

SHEFFIELD UNITED manager Paul Heckingbottom has stressed that striker Lys Mousset needs to do more to propel himself into first-team contention - and has urged him to make more 'sacrifices' in his pursuit of that.

The £10m striker has endured a tough time at Bramall Lane since arriving in the summer of 2019 and has yet to feature for the full ninety minutes for the club.

The 25-year-old has featured just seven times this term, scoring three times in a season affected by injury and fitness issues and a bout of Covid.

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Mousset will again be missing from the squad for Saturday's home game with Luton Town.

Paul Heckingbottom.Paul Heckingbottom.
Paul Heckingbottom.

Heckingbottom said: He won’t be involved this weekend. He wants to be, but for whatever reason he hasn’t been able to keep fit and it’s a tough industry where you have to make sacrifices to get to the level you want to be.

"Talent isn’t enough there’s a way to behave to get the best out of yourself and we’re trying to help him do that."

Enda Stevens is a doubt for the appointment with the Hatters, United's first at Bramall Lane since last November.

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Oli McBurnie is continuing to progress well in his rehabiliation following a bout of Covid, according to Heckingbottom.

He added: "He's had a good week. We kept him out of the squad, so he could do more work.

"He’s applied himself well because it’s tough when you’re working on your own. I want to put him back in as soon as possible.

"He has a way to go still, but we’re doing what we think is right in building him up.

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"He’s come on and looks a lot stronger now and responding well to the hard work he’s been doing. I know him, I’ve said to him it wont be a lack of effort on our part as a staff. He’s going to be pushed as we hope and expect him to get back to those levels."

And on Stevens, he said: "We’ll see, a couple are being assessed. Enda came off so we need to get to the bottom of that, but that was precautionary. It’s been a lighter day today, so we’ll know more tomorrow as to who’s available.

"He’s a lad who’s just come back from Covid and had a week training. When we had all the games called off, our training load dropped because we were preparing for games that were called off at the last minute."

Meanwhile, Heckingbottom reports no updates in the club's search for another goalkeeping option following Robin Olsen's return to AS Roma and subsequent switch to Aston Villa.

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He continued: "There's nothing to add from Tuesday night. Our hand was forced a hell of a lot by Roma and Robin. Wes (Foderingham) has earned that shirt at the minute but we want to get him competition.

"There’s lots of keepers out there, but we want genuine competition. But he’s earned that shirt.

"We’re light. If anything happened, it’s strange times. Players are falling across all clubs with Covid and injuries, so it is a different window in that respect. There’s certainly a need on my part to get one as soon as possible."

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