Sheffield United: Burning the midnight oil to try and ensure key players face Barnsley
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Speaking ahead of Saturday’s meeting with his former club, United manager Paul Heckingbottom told The Star that members of Bramall Lane’s medical department are “putting in the hours” after eleven members of his squad missed last night’s visit to Blackpool.
The overwhelming majority of those would all have been in contention to either start the match or be included among Heckingbottom’s substitutes.
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Hide Ad“People are working so hard to try and get some of them back out there,” he said. “We need them to be back out there. Well, at least some of them anyway, because of the quality and options they give us.
“You want your best players to be available, always. But particularly at times like this and they are some of our best options without a doubt.”
Already without the likes of Rhian Brewster, David McGoldrick and Jayden Bogle for the remainder of the campaign, United saw Oli McBurnie join Chris Basham, John Fleck, Ben Davies and George Baldock on the casualty list when he sustained a dead leg during their 4-1 defeat at Coventry City.
Heckingbottom had hoped the Scotland international would recover in time to face Neil Critchley’s side. But those hopes were dashed when McBurnie was unable to take part in training before the goalless draw at Bloomfield Road.
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With midfielder John Fleck hoping to step-up his training schedule over the next 24 hours - McBurnie’s compatriot is understood to have completed a series of light sessions while his teammates were in Lancashire - Heckingbottom is hopeful both can play some part in United’s final outing before the international break.
“The lads themselves, as well as the people looking after them, they are all putting the hours in,” he said. “I wish people could actually see how hard they are working to try and get back and help us through this.”
With United now ninth in the table, albeit only a point outside of the Championship play-off positions, Heckingbottom added: “We’re keeping our fingers crossed a couple might be okay. We’ll just have to see.”