Reason Oli McBurnie started for Sheffield United ahead of Billy Sharp revealed

Paul Heckingbottom felt last night's game was one for Oli McBurnie as he explained his decision to leave Billy Sharp out of the starting XI.

The Blades boss made the call as one of four changes for the visit of Shota Arveladze's men, but despite having 22 efforts at goal, United were made to rue those missed chances as Hull held out for a point.

Sharp had been in fine form of late and has found the net seven times in Heckingbottom's 11 league games in charge.

With games coming thick and fast up until the next international break in March, Heckingbottom had warned there will be a need to use his full squad during this period to keep his players fresh.

And with Rhian Brewster and David McGoldrick both facing lengthy spells on the sidelines, the need to protect their main source of goals right now is even more important as United's attacking department is thin on the ground in terms of numbers.

However, the decision to leave his leading scorer out was more than just about resting the 36-year-old.

Heckingbottom had also spotted a weakness in the Hull ranks that he felt was perfect for McBurnie to exploit.

He said: "Hull are down at the bottom in terms of aerial duels and conceding headed goals, which is a strength of Oli's, but it's also the workload Bill's been going through.

"We could see at the start of the second half it was probably one of the games where you want him on the pitch when you have that many balls falling in the box, but we just couldn't quite get him that chance.

"He was getting half chances and scraps from around the edge, so in that respect we couldn't quite get one to drop for him.

"He's in great form and someone who has been really important for us. We need him fit, we need him firing and we need