Paul Heckingbottom on why Sheffield United's late goal has changed the complexion of the semi-final against Nottingham Forest

United were second best, especially in the second half to a dominant Forest side, who cashed in on errors in each half from Ben Osborn and John Egan to go 2-0 ahead, thanks to goals from Jack Colback and Brennan Johnson.

The visitors also spurned a host of opportunities - passing up six chances in the opening period - to make the second leg pretty academic.

To their credit, United dug deep and gave themselves a lifeline late on when Sander Berge headed home following a centre from Morgan Gibbs-White to gave the Yorkshire club some hope ahead of their trip to the East Midlands.

Heckingbottom said: "I think it (Berge's goal) does (keep the tie alive). It's half-time and there's still loads to go.

"I think what it has done - and I think you could see with the body language of everyone connected with Forest more so than us - we are not happy we have come off the pitch and got beaten, but the goal has certainly changed the mood among the fans and both camps, definitely.

"Hopefully, it proves to be a pivotal moment."

On the game as a whole, he continued: "I thought we started well and there were good moments in the first half, but every time we lost the ball, they were a threat on the counter.

"We spoke about it and prepared for it, but we did not deal with it well enough.

"That was the pattern in the first half. We had to be better in the second half, which we were. However, we couldn't break them down when they were sitting in and they defended the box very well and we wanted to be better.

"One goal then would have changed the tie. It didn't happen, so we had to take the one we got in the end."

Heckingbottom's counterpart Steve Cooper shrugged off his side's late concession to accentuate the positives on an afternoon when his side showed just why they have enjoyed such a strong season.

He commented: "It should have been a clean sheet and could have been more goals. But this is football, this is the play-offs.

"It was a really good game and I loved our first half performance. We were dominant and I was impressed and happy with our mentality and approach to the game.

"Whether we like it or not, these games are different and to come to a big stadium like this against a good team and players and good atmosphere and do what we did shows you that our mentality is in a good place.

"I was pleased with that. We created more chances than the goals (we scored). They had a bit more of the ball than we would have probably liked.

"It was disappointing to concede at the end, but that is the tension and randomness of the play-offs, isn't it."