McBurnie’s mindset hailed by Heckingbottom
TALENT, TACTICS, squad depth, fixtures, even luck will all play a part in a hard-to-call race for the Championship play-off places but character will be important too, and Sheffield United manager Paul Heckingbottom was delighted Oli McBurnie showed it this week.
In all honesty, praise for McBurnie from Heckingbottom is probably worth slightly less.
“I’m a fan,” he says openly of the striker he signed as Barnsley manager.
But in his last game there before the international break, against the Reds, McBurnie’s introduction as a substitute brought grumbles from the stands. When he was substituted in his next appearance there – Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Queens Park Rangers – he came off to a standing ovation for the quality of his performance. It would surely have been even more rapturous had they known the backstory.
“He was throwing up with a stomach bug but if he’d declared himself fit I was going to start him and just get out of him what I could,” revealed Heckingbottom.
It is not the first time recently McBurnie has tried to play when he should not really have. He wanted to face Blackpool last month despite not having properly recovered from a dead leg at Coventry City. On that occasion, Heckingbottom decided it would be “unfair” to play him.
But with Billy Sharp injured and form wobbling a touch after disappointing away performances at Coventry, Blackpool and Stoke City, the Blades needed to take full advantage of a return to the ground where they have fared so well under Heckingbottom.
McBurnie’s display at centreforward was key.
“You expect it but it’s not as commonplace as it once was” Heckingbottom says of McBurnie’s determination to play.
“It’s something we demand here. I think they should demand it everywhere, in every place of work, but that’s probably how I’ve been brought up.
“It’s an expectation here and that’s why I wanted to emphasise the point because it’s important and it helped us get three points.”
With their ability – albeit a bit too much for comfort is in the treatment room, and with four of their last six matches at home, more attitudes like McBurnie’s should be enough to take the Blades’ season into extra-time.