Paul Heckingbottom urges Sheffield United to sign experienced help for 'light' squad

By the manager's own admission, the Blades will kick off their new Premier League season at home to Crystal Palace on Saturday under-manned and under-prepared after Sander Berge followed Iliman Ndiaye out of the club by joining Burnley on Wednesday.

But Heckingbottom is determined not to dwell on what has gone on or get caught up in the negativity of a club which was the second-best in last season's Championship stepping up a level with a weaker squad.

Excuses have never been his way in a managerial career which has placed him in more than his fair share of difficult positions and he is just looking to make the most of the situation.

He has been told the money received for key players Berge and Ndiaye will be reinvested and having only been able to sign inexperienced (and cheap) recruits so far, he is on the lookout for greater experience.

"(Owner) Prince Abdullah has assured me that money's there to spend so we need to go and spend it," said Heckingbottom. "We need to.

"I'm not going to speak about players' names but you only have to watch us train and we have got a lot of young boys in our group.

"From November 21 (2022) when we took over, we've lost 18 players from the first-team squad and got six in. Forget the quality, we are 12 bodies light.

"We've done a lot of good work to replace that with boys from the academy but we've also sold a lot of talent from the academy.

"We're desperately light regardless.

"We've done a lot of recruitment and have a lot of potential to work with but I am pushing for players with that little bit more experience, ones who I know what I'm going to get from and who can give us a big lift as a group and for the fans."

On Tuesday the Blades quickly reacted to Berge's £12m departure with the signing of 24-year-old Brazilian midfielder Vinicius Souza for an undisclosed fee from Belgian club Lommel, although Heckingbottom stressed he was targeted to play with, not replace Berge.

He is lacking match practice but will be thrown into Saturday's squad regardless if he receives a visa in time.

Like fellow signings Auston Trusty, Benie Traore, Anis Slimane and Yasser Larouci, Souza has not played Premier League football.

Heckingbottom worked hard to persuade the board not to sell Ndiaye and Berge in January but with the pair entering the last 12 months of their contracts, the cash-strapped club have no decided to cash in.

The timing – Ndiaye left for Marseille on August 1 – has added to the frustration for all with the Blades at heart, but it is not Heckingbottom's way to dwell on it.

"It's just the timing of it, we've got the opener in two days' time and we're light," he admitted.

"Are there things we could have done differently? Of course. But not everything's in our control. When clubs come in for our players is not in our control.

"I can't be focused on how we look in the press rather than focusing on our jobs and getting the players in. That's going to define the season.

"I want everyone's focus now to be on Palace, Palace, Palace for the staff, the players, myself, the board, recruitment and players. Forget everything's that's gone, its about attacking this season

"I know the area well enough, I know this club well enough and usually in times like this we can lot of people.

"I'm not scared of it or fearing what's gone off. It's about this game and it's exciting me and the players.

"From this point on, we should only be getting stronger if we do the right things."