Huddersfield Town and Sheffield United show they have squads to maintain Premier League promotion push

A 0-0 draw was not a result to panic the high-class field competing to make their long seasons even longer, but the Yorkshire sides demonstrated qualities they will need to come through.

Squad depth will be high on the list. The Blades have 17 matches to play in what, when March’s fortnight-long international break is removed, is only 10 weeks.

Even with Enda Stevens, Rhian Brewster, David McGoldrick, Ben Osborn and Jack O’Connell injured, they still had an on-loan Liverpool defender (Ben Davies), a three-time promotion winner (Oliver Norwood), the exciting Illiman Ndiaye, the cultured Conor Hourihane and two January signings (Adam Davies and Charlie Goode) alongside the youngest player to score on his Premier League debut (Daniel Jebbison) filling their bench.

“We are really happy with the squad in terms of competition for places,” said manager Paul Heckingbottom. “Everyone is chomping, so that drives performance.”

List Huddersfield’s best qualities this season, and squad depth would be low down.

But by full-time a player who had never started a Championship match a few hours earlier was exasperated not to be the match-winner.

The television-led decision to make two teams who kicked off their midweek matches later than anyone (7.45pm on Wednesday) begin their weekends earlier than the rest (12.30pm on Saturday), forced both managers into four changes. It ought to have played into Sheffield United’s hands, but did not.

After the match Jon Russell was grumpy his 39th-minute goal was disallowed because Danny Ward crashed into Blades goalkeeper Wes Foderingham.

“The boy (Ward) was on the floor behind me and as he (Russell) has gone to head it, I’ve gone to make a step and I just fell over him,” explained Foderingham.

On closer inspection Foderingham’s team-mate George Baldock threw him into the keeper’s path.

“I saw their players walking back to their positions and I was fuming it didn’t count,” said Russell.

Huddersfield had a stroke of luck a minute earlier when Jonathan Hogg – a holding midfielder when Town had the ball, a third centre-back when the Blades did – hauled down Billy Sharp only to see an offside flag. With Hogg the last man but Sharp some way from goal, we will never know what colour card James Linington would have chosen.

Outstanding as Lee Nicholls’s save from John Fleck’s steered 85th-minute shot was, the ball came nicely off the post for him to shovel it behind for a corner.

Huddersfield might have had a penalty when Pipa fell under Jack Robinson’s 84th-minute challenge but if anyone was to blame it was probably the Spaniard, who went down so dramatically the referee perhaps suspected he was being conned.

It was hard to argue one side deserved to win more than the other. Although they were – and still are – above the Blades in fifth, that was credit to Town.

Because whilst Heckingbottom was able to draft in a £23m midfielder in Sander Berge to dictate the rhythm of the passing when his team was on top and a £20m striker in Oli McBurnie who did a good job of getting on the end of crosses, just not of putting them in the net, Huddersfield gave first Championship starts to Russell and Josh Ruffels when Harry Toffolo and Carel Eiting might have been safer picks.

A goal would have been a fitting reward for giant central midfielder Russell, who passed and intercepted the ball well.

“He showed a lot of personality in our first game in the Cup (his full Terriers debut) and against Barnsley,” coach Carlos Corberan pointed out. “On Saturday he showed the same.”

Ruffels also more than justified his selection as the reception when he made way in the 76th minute demonstrated.

“Many times I have spoken about Ruffels not playing not because he isn’t at the right level, but because Toffolo is a very important player who was playing very well,” argued Corberan.

Both midfields were hard to play through but the Blades, usually by getting the ball wide, and the Terriers, often on the counter-attack, did so in spurts. After a tight opening 20 minutes, first the visitors then the hosts had around a quarter of an hour each.

The game went up a notch or two in the second half, Huddersfield starting more dangerously before Heckingbottom stiffened his midfield and watched his side finish more strongly, culminating in their own “what if” moment against a team now unbeaten in 14 matches whose league position is a fair reflection.

“It looked like two good teams, no one making a backward step,” said Heckingbottom.

Two good squads.