Paul Heckingbottom offers unfortunate Sheffield United injury update

Paul Heckingbottom confirmed that Basham will be out for longer than initially said as the club were trying to bluff their rivals.

This news hasn’t come as a surprise to those inside the club, as Heckingbottom claimed that, with big games coming up, the club were trying to play down the seriousness of the injury.

Basham will miss the next few weeks of action after suffering an MCL issue in February. 

“Basham won’t be back before the international break,” said the Blades boss, via the club’s official Twitter account. 

We had some big games, we wanted to make sure we played it down a little bit. He’s going to be few more weeks.”

Sheffield United are suffering with a litany of injury problems coming into such a crucial stage of the season.

The likes of Rhian Brewster, Jayden Bogle, David McGoldrick and George Baldock have all joined Basham on the sidelines in recent weeks. 

Heckingbottom had initially claimed that Basham would only be out for a few weeks, but it is now clear the issue is much more serious than was originally let on. 

The Blades earned a big 4-1 win over Middlesbrough midweek despite these injury concerns. 

That win took the club into the play-off places, ahead of Boro in the table. 

Next up for Heckingbottom’s side is an away trip to Coventry City on March 12. 

Heckingbottom has managed this tricky situation quite well to still get such emphatic results.

The side will need these players to return quickly in order to boost their promotion challenge.

But there are some unfortunate long-term injuries on their medical benches that will make life difficult in the closing months.

The team can still make the play-offs but these lay-offs will put them at a disadvantage against their rivals.

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