Oli McBurnie welcomes tough love from Sheffield United manager Paul Heckingbottom

Without a league goal since he scored against Leicester City in December 2020, this is a big season for the Leeds-born Scotland international as the Blades look to make light of Billy Sharp’s early-season injury problems to push for promotion back to the top flight.

With David McGoldrick, Lys Mousset and Oliver Burke having left in the summer, Rhian Brewster having his own struggles and Daniel Jebbison and Iliman Ndiaye still learning the game, it puts a lot of emphasis on the 26-year-old to belatedly justify the £20m the Blades paid Swansea City for him three years ago.

He can therefore expect Heckingbottom at him all season. But then, says McBurnie, he has been ever since signing him for Barnsley in 2018, only to leave for Leeds United later that week.

“He’s on my case all the time,” says McBurnie, who began his career at Bradford City. “Even when there were other managers and Hecky was here as the (under-23s) manager, even when he was working at other clubs, we always kept in contact. He’d be the first to ring me up and hammer me.

“I remember him pulling me downstairs here (at the Blades’ Shirecliffe training complex) when he was the 23s manager. He always likes to bring up Arsenal at home in the first year (in the Premier League). He says, ‘You were running, you were smashing centre-halves, you were a nightmare for them... and then at the weekend you were s***, you were doing this, you were doing that, you didn’t look like the same player.’

“He knows to be on me is the best way to get the best out of me.

“There will be mornings in training where if I’m quiet he knows I’ll be trying to have a chilled day and not be at it. He’ll be in the warm-up saying, ‘I can’t hear you, you’re going to have a down day!’ Not on his watch.”

Tough love and challenging players are Heckingbottom’s style. McBurnie did not appreciate it at first, but quickly came to.

“It’s literally like having two dads!” he smiles. “I think I do need it, though, I can coast through sometimes. The way the gaffer wants to play is front foot all the time and to be able to play like that you need to be at it every single day in training.

“At first I was like, ‘Why is he on me? Leave me alone!’ but I quickly realised if he’s not on you, that’s when you need to worry. He’s on you because he cares.”

It makes perfect sense to Heckingbottom.

“If in a few years’ time I’m watching a game and one of my lads I’ve worked with is playing in the Premier League or for their country, I’ll sit with a beer and love watching them,” he says.

“I won’t be in touch with them but if I see on the news they’ve done something wrong, I’ll be straight on the phone to them. You feel a responsibility to help them, to push them.

“Certainly in younger age groups with people being politically correct, they are scared to push young players and tell them what they really think for the fear of them not liking them or maybe doing something wrong but you’re not giving them the best chance to be successful.

“If I see anyone I’ve worked with, they may just need help, they may just need a chat but generally they need a kick up the backside, not someone pussy-footing around.

“Team sports are generally softer than individual sports. Anyone who gets to the top individually is tough. They may be loopy, some of them may have something missing but they’ll be driven, they’ll be tough, they can deal with things.

“Anyone who has the right mentality, they’re going to get the best out of themselves so why wouldn’t you push for those qualities and try and coach and develop that as much as you do a good left foot or being good in the air?

“The best skill you can give anyone is how to better themselves. Then all you are is a facilitator.”

Whilst there might be the odd mutter under the breath, you can see from the way the Blades plays that they appreciate it.

“You saw last season he’s very good at getting the best out of the guys,” says McBurnie.

“I definitely feel like I owe him a lot, the confidence he’s shown in me for about five years. I think he wants me to do even better than I want to.”