Sheffield United's Paul Heckingbottom expecting better version of Huddersfield Town as Championship returns from World Cup break

There is a unique dynamic to this season's Championship which ought to favour coaches over managers, and particularly those who only started their jobs after the campaign got up and running – people like Huddersfield's Mark Fotheringham.

The Championship returns this weekend having been on hold since mid-November with Heckingbottom's Sheffield United second in the table. But he warned his players to expect teams like Huddersfield to return much improved.

"It's clear what they're trying to do so we know the problems they're going to pose," said Heckingbottom, whose side drew at Huddersfield last season and lost at home to them under his predecessor Slavisa Jokanovic.

"We know we're going to have to be patient because they like to be really compact and block up the middle of the pitch. We have to be prepared for it.

"They've had four weeks' practice.

"We knew how they were going to play beforehand, we've got to expect a better version of it."

The lines between head coaches and managers are blurred these days, but Fotheringham is certainly the former, and has the added advantage of learning his trade in Germany's Bundesliga, where mid-season breaks are the norm.

"In England you can see managers who walk about with their hands in their pockets and manage the day-to-day," says the Scot. "That's the polar opposite of what I am.

"The luxury of the Bundesliga is you have a winter break and you can refresh and reset mentally. You can improve on certain things you didn't do well in the Vorrunde (its equivalent of golf's front nine).

"You often see teams start slowly in the Vorrunde and they finish really strong in the Hinrunde (the reverse fixtures after the break). Sometimes players need to be re-energised, refocused, and that's exactly what we've done."

Not that Fotheringham and fellow new managers Kolo Toure (the Blades' next opponent), Paul Hall, Rob Edwards, Carlos Corberan, Mark Hudson, Liam Rosenior, Michael Carrick, Matt Taylor, Slaven Bilic, Tony Mowbray and Alex Neil have the monopoly on making good use of the break.

Like Huddersfield, Sheffield United have been able to get a crippling injury list down with Jayden Bogle, Max Lowe, Sander Berge, Tommy Doyle, Anel Ahmedhodzic and Jack Robinson back in training, and Oli McBurnie sent for an overdue hernia operation.

"We were in need of a rest and we had nine days or so, then it's been football and we've had a couple of games (behind-closed-doors friendlies against Rotherham United)," explains Heckingbottom.

"So I'm not concerned about rust but there's an obstacle in our way, someone on the other side of the halfway line trying to stop us."

Midfielder James McAtee, on loan from Manchester City, hopes he has struck the right balance between rest and self-improvement.

"I went to Dubai and got to watch Illy (his club-mate, Senegal forward Iliman Ndiaye) play so that was nice," he says.

"We've had a friendly and had a few chats with the manager, Jack (Lester) and Macca (Stuart McCall, his coaches), just (about work) off the ball and trying to get more numbers to my game.

"Hecky's been coaching me and I've been able to learn things I've not been taught (before). At City it's always been the same way. It was a shock at the start but I'm understanding more off the ball.

"When he (Heckingbottom) talks to me his mindset is how am I going to get better, he's not focused on the team when he's talking to me.

"I'd like to start adding numbers now – goals and assists – and play with more risk, to be more creative. "

Being fit throughout has allowed McAtee plenty of one-on-one attention.

"There's been days on the spin where we've been able to really tailor it so he gets the most out of it,” explains Heckingbottom.

Huddersfield's winner in August 2021 came when they kept the ball alive at a stoppage-time corner and Levi Colwill converted a Harry Toffolo cross. Both players, plus Town's coach that day, Corberan, have since left but the goalscoring threat remains the same.

"Since Mark went in I think nine out of the 10 (goals) they scored have been from set plays," says Heckingbottom. "That's why I'm expecting them trying to stop us, be compact, block, break quickly and be a threat on set plays."

His men will be every bit as ready as Huddersfield’s, he believes.

"The training ground looks very different with the size and quality of the group,” he reflects. “We've worked on how we try and play in possession and how we try and play out of possession.

"We're ready to play and I think everyone fans included are ready for us to be back.

"I've enjoyed the football (in Qatar) but in terms of working here I've not enjoyed it because I enjoy the games. Sometimes you feel like you're babysitting."

Not any more.