Paul Heckingbottom identifies key area in Sheffield United’s promotion push

Paul Heckingbottom believes that desire and fight will have a huge say on whether Sheffield United finish inside the top six or not this season.

It is so tight at the top with the margins becoming slimmer and slimmer by the week, the Blades have produced some excellent performances in the last few months but when it comes down to the crunch encounters at the end of the season, the desire and fight of the group could be what makes the difference.

Heckingbottom explained his thoughts behind this when he spoke to the Sheffield Star.

He said: “The little things, the small details that have been helping us to get the wins, they are so important.

“If you don’t do them, or do them properly, then it makes things more difficult in what is already a really difficult league.

“I don’t think we’ve lacked, or ever will lack, the desire and the fight.

“I don’t believe my team has ever been out-fought or out-battled.

“Those small things, the things that lots of people often don’t notice, are what have been getting us the points and so we’ve really got to concentrate on doing those.”

It was a disappointing defeat for the Blades at the weekend, a 1-0 loss at Millwall, but that is just the nature of the beast in the Championship and if they can sustain the performance levels they have shown in the last few months, a top six finish will not be too challenging for this group of players.

The Verdict

Heckingbottom is more reiterating what is expected as a minimum from his players, rather than offering any ground-breaking insight into how the Blades are going to get the better of the sides around them to finish in the top six.

They have put themselves in a very strong position and given the large proportion of home games in their remaining