Paul Heckingbottom addresses Sheffield United promotion talk after West Brom victory

Paul Heckingbottom has played down talk of Sheffield United being serious promotion contenders after their fourth successive Championship victory last night, whilst in conversation with the Sheffield Star. 

The Blades ran out as 2-0 winners over West Brom yesterday evening, with a Billy Sharp brace spearing the two sides at Bramall Lane. 

Despite still sitting as far back as 10th, the Blades are a point from the play-off positions and possess two games in hand on Nottingham Forest, the current occupiers of sixth spot. 

Heckingbottom’s side are 10 points shy of the automatic spots too, with Sheffield United possessing a game in hand on Blackburn Rovers in second. 

Speaking to the Sheffield Star about the Blades being labelled as serious promotion contenders, Heckingbottom said: “Serious is Fulham, they’re running away with it.

“The rest of the league is crazy. We’re happy with where we are. We can’t get past 10th, we keep winning and can’t get past 10th.

“But we’re a point behind the play-offs with our games in hand, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. It means our run-in is possibly harder than the others, but that’s where our squad comes in.

“Six of the top teams have to come and play here and they’ll see it as a chance to come and take points off us. We can only look after ourselves.”

The verdict 

The Blades are looking an extremely strong outfit at the moment, and whilst they sit as far back as 10th, they will have every bit of confidence that they can secure a play-off spot at the very least. 

The automatics are also very much a possibility as things stand, with Bournemouth, Blackburn Rovers and QPR not showing the best of form in recent weeks. 

Ultimately, there is a large chunk of the season left to play