Paul Heckingbottom verdict on Ciaran Clark's Sheffield United debut

Sheffield United boss Paul Heckingbottom gave new signing Newcstle United loanee Ciaran Clark his first minutes in a Blades shirt away at Scunthorpe United on Saturday. The experienced defender came on in the 73rd minute in the Blades' 3-2 defeat at the National League outfit.

Sheffield United were 3-0 down when Clark, along with five other players, were put on by Heckingbottom, but the Championship side staged a mini fightback, with Rhian Brewster and Iliman Ndiaye scoring in the latter stages of the game.

Clark joined the Blades on loan from Newcastle United last week, despite interest from a number of other clubs. The Republic of Ireland international is set to get more minutes in Sheffield United's game at League Two side Mansfield Town on Tuesday.

"He joined us at the back end of last week," Heckingbottom told sufc.co.uk. "On Thursday he trained with us. It was a lighter day on Friday for the boys that started today, but he obviously trained really hard with the other boys who came on late. It's good for him to get this under his belt. There will be more games for him, I'm sure."