'English football is on a slippery slope' claims Sheffield United's Paul Heckingbottom after penalty controversy

United were trailing 1-0 when Berge making his first start since December, appeared to be impeded by Tyrick Mitchell as he drove towards the six yard box.

However, with the Norway international electing to stay on his feet rather than draw Simon Hooper’s attention to the foul, the referee allowed play to continue; much to Heckingbottom’s obvious annoyance, although he later made it clear he was not blaming the officials for the final scoreline.

“If Sander does go down in the box, then we get a penalty,” said Heckingbottom, after watching goals from Christian Benteke and Eberechi Eze heap more misery on the hosts. “If John Egan takes out Eze before their first and gets a yellow card, they probably don’t score then.

“Some people might call it naivety, but I don’t. Unfortunately it’s the way the game is going and what has been a great thing for Sheffield United for so long - that honesty - is now seen as a weakness.”

“In no way am I blaming the referees or the officials - no way at all - but we are now in a situation where we are promoting people going fon to get free-kicks or appealing for them.

“Unfortunately, it’s probably not going to go back to the way it was, but I don’t think it’s a good situation to be in.”

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