Sheffield United boss outlines his FA Cup priority despite fixture congestion concerns for promotion-chasing Blades

United have been drawn away at Championship rivals Millwall in round three at The Den and with United well placed in the promotion race – going into the cup clash second in the Championship standings – some supporters have speculated about the merits of concentrating on the league form, especially considering United’s injury record so far this term.

Ben Osborn, Oli McBurnie and Max Lowe have all been struck down by injury in recent weeks while Rhian Brewster and Rhys Norrington-Davies are more long-term absentees, and there are question marks over Reda Khadra’s future after being left out of United’s last two games.

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And Heckingbottom, whose side have played three times since Christmas, said recently: “The Christmas period is still nowhere like what we’ve been playing so far this season. That’s easy for us.

“Listen, we’d love a cup run and things like that. Of course we would. Then it may affect the games further down the line. But as it stands, we have a lot of Saturday to Saturday weeks - which means we can do a lot of work with the players on the grass.

“We can make sure players are in a better state physically come the end of the week and ready for the next game. It does look, as it stands now, a hell of a lot different, in terms of planning, and the fixture list from what it was end of July through to middle of November.”

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The United manager is still not expected to take any wild risks with his half-fit players, preferring to take the sensible option and avoiding the possibility they may break down again. McBurnie will not return to the United squad until he is capable of playing 90 minutes after suffering an ankle injury, while Lowe and Osborn could return against Millwall.

Chris Basham and Adam Davies are amongst the Blades players who could make rare starts against Gary Rowett's side, who are sixth in the table but only three points behind Blackburn.

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