Sheffield United: Boss shrugs-off fixture congestion concerns after Rotherham postponement
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Although the United manager’s personal preference would have been to continue with the fixture programme, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, he told reporters ahead of tomorrow’s match against Swansea City he “understands” why the decision was taken as a “mark of respect”.
With United on top of the Championship table following a seven match unbeaten run in the league, Heckingbottom admitted: “We wanted to keep playing, because of the momentum yes.”
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However, after being forced to rearrange a number of games at short notice last term because of the Covid-19 pandemic, he said: “It’s nothing we haven’t dealt with and we kept our focus then. There’s no problem with the focus. But I do want to get back into that flow again. We’ve got Saturday/Tuesday for a few weeks and then there will be a little bit of a shutdown for the international break. We’ve got plenty who will be going away, but it will be different for them.”
Heckingbottom summoned his squad to training on Saturday, when they should have been facing Rotherham. That match could now take place in November, following talks between the two clubs.
“We’ve got our heads around it now,” Heckingbottom said. “It’s not like football hasn’t got used to dealing with the abnormal. We’ve got one game to fit in. I’m looking at Coventry and all of the problems they’ve had because of the issues with their surface at home. They’re already playing catch-up.”