Sheffield United: Wembley distraction for Blades’ promotion rivals

Given a play-off race which looks to be the most fiercely contested in years and where the margins between several teams looks tight, it could be a factor.

The Blades’ next opponents Nottingham Forest – who visit Bramall Lane for a six-pointer tomorrow night – entertain another promotion candidate in Huddersfield Town in a last-16 FA Cup tie at the City Ground on Monday.

The winners will join Middlesbrough in the quarter-finals of the competition later this month following Boro’s win over Tottenham Hotspur in the fifth round.

The very real potential is there for two Yorkshire sides to reach round six of the Cup for the first time since 2013-14 when the Blades and Hull City progressed to set up an all-White Rose semi-final on the hallowed turf.

Wembley will again stage this year’s semis.

Blades manager Paul Heckingbottom watched Boro beat Spurs after extra-time on Tuesday night with his side hosting the Teessiders in Chris Wilder’s first return to S2 in five days time.

Another top-six candidate in Luton Town were in Cup action against Chelsea on Wednesday evening.

On the potential for Cup progress to be a potential distraction for sides at the business end of the Championship, Heckingbottom said: “I watched the Boro game and when we came in (to training) in the morning, some people said that and some said the exact opposite.

“Listen, I know where I’d rather be, in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

“It’s fantastic, what an opportunity. You only get one of those shots every year, so that’s where I’d rather be.

“But we know how hard it has been in terms of the workload. We have had an unrelenting period which has been tough and it has taken its toll on us.

“We had other issues with the way the games got called off (before) and the pitches at the time, which I think have magnified our injuries. We have certainly found how tough that is.

“There is no shying away from that either.

“While you would still love to be in the cup competitions, it will add a few more problems.”

Two places and two points separate seventh-placed United – a point behind the side currently occupying the final play-off spot in Luton – and Forest, in ninth, ahead of tomorrow’s meeting.

Just eight points split tenth-placed Coventry, who the Blades visit a week on Saturday, and third-placed Huddersfield.

Games in hand are an additional factor – as any extra games in Cup competitions also might be – with Heckingbottom still of the view that there is still time for other sides to gatecrash the top six. More especially with a number of teams still having to play each other.

Heckingbottom, whose side have not conceded so much as a goal in their past seven unbeaten home fixtures – with the run stretching back to the end of October – added: “If you look at the league, Luton are impressing me.

“They have gone on a real good run and after we beat them, I think a few people were questioning them saying: ‘right, is that them (gone)’.

“But they have kicked on again and done really well and have a spirit and a way of playing which really unites their team.

“They play to their strengths and I think they are going to be up there. You have still got other teams chasing who are behind us such as the Stokes and Prestons and teams like that.

“Then, there are those who have been in there such as Boro, Forest, Blackburn and QPR. Huddersfield are also on that big unbeaten run.

“There are many teams fighting for the last four places. But they may change and someone else may come on a run, well down to mid-table.

“There’s still not many points in it. It is going to be a good one.”

United’s recent mean defensive statistics, particularly on home soil, is a clear tick in the box, but the need for more players to chip in and support Billy Sharp and Morgan Gibbs-White in the scoring stakes is also obvious, especially with David McGoldrick and Rhian Brewster sidelined.

A key contribution from striker Oli McBurnie, who has not scored at league level since December 2020, would carry clear significance for the team.

It would also possess tremendous psychological merit for the player, just as importantly.

Heckingbottom said: “It is game time and getting him on the pitch. He will score goals, his record suggests that. We all know that and have seen him do it.

“He has got a role to play and he has done fantastic. He has had chances and if he had taken them, we’d have been talking about something totally different. But we are not.

“But I am not concerned about him. I see him every day and know what he is doing.

“The only thing you can do is knuckle down, work hard to get on the pitch and keep fighting for those chances.

“When one comes, one will drop and who knows what will happen then.”

Blades defender Max Lowe – currently on loan at Forest – is ineligible for tomorrow’s game under the terms of his loan.