Sheffield United star on how Spain striker's lessons are helping him prepare for Tottenham Hotspur

Eighteen months on, as Sheffield United prepare to face Tottenham Hotspur in the the FA Cup, the Bosnia and Herzegovina defender reflected upon what he learnt from the now Atletico Madrid marksman during a Champions League tie between the Italians and his hometown club Malmo at the Elada Stadion.

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“It is important to stay concentrated and totally focused,” Ahmedhodzic told The Star, when asked how he plans to try and combat the threat posed by Harry Kane, Heung-min Son, Ivan Perisic, Dejan Kulusevski or whatever permutation of attacking talent Antonio Conte chooses to deploy at Bramall Lane tomorrow night. “If you switch off for a second then you are going to get hurt, that’s what Morata showed me.

“I was still in Sweden and we were playing Juventus at our ground. It was nil nil and things were going quite comfortably. That’s how it felt. We go a goal down but things still felt good and we were confident. But then, all of a sudden, our back line switches off and ‘bang, bang’ - just like that we let in two more.

“Morata had been offside so many times. Nine times out of 10 he was offside. But then the one chance he got when he wasn’t, he goes through just like that. He wins a penalty and then scores himself just before half-time. You are 3-0 behind then and the game has gone away from you. That was the first time I realised how you have to be in matches like this.”

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Ahmedhodzic had been expected to sit out the fifth round tie as United manager Paul Heckingbottom, whose side are second in the Championship table, attempts to balance trying to plot Spurs’ downfall with the even more important task of guiding his squad to promotion from the Championship. But that plan is likely to be shelved after Ahmedhodzic collected his 10th caution of the season during last weekend’s win over Watford. The two match ban that triggered means he will now miss Saturday’s visit to Blackburn Rovers and also Tuesday’s encounter at Reading. Although Heckingbottom has used his pre-match media conferences to throw opponents a few curve balls in the past, Ahmedhodzic’s presence at the Randox Health Academy on Monday suggests Chris Basham, who had been pencilled in to face Conte’s men, has now been stood down in order to concentrate on helping second-placed United stretch their seven point advantage over Middlesbrough in third.

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Born in Sweden to Bosnian parents who left Sarajevo following the horrors of the Balkans War, Ahmedhodzic has spoken in the past about how his obsession with football - and English football in particular - helped him escape the pitfalls of life in Rosengard; a place one social commentator has described as one of the Scandinavian country’s most “dangerous” ghettos. Aged 23, that fixation did not extend to a competition United have twice reached the quarter-finals of in the past three seasons. But during his conversations with journalists at the club’s training complex, Ahmedhodzic’s excitement at the prospect of facing opponents ranked fourth in the Premier League was plain to see.

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“In my household, we didn’t have a particular thing for the cup because the league was, and still is, the really big thing,” he said. “But we still watched all the games that were on and so quite a few of those were in this.”

“I do think it is a great tournament,” Ahmedhodzic continued. “A very special one because you can come up against anybody and you can get some really big clubs playing against the ones right down (the pyramid). And in sport, everyone has a chance. Always. So yes, I think the cup is a really good thing.”

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Having progressed past Millwall, United required a replay to overcome National League outfit Wrexham in the previous round; Sander Berge and Billy Sharp scoring late on after Paul Mullins’ penalty had cancelled-out Ahmedhodzic’s opener. Despite being three divisions below them, Phil Parkinson’s side were still able to drag Heckingbottom’s men into the trenches. It is a trick United will be hoping to perform themselves when Spurs, who beat Chelsea on Sunday, make the long midweek journey north. Eight seasons ago, when they were still competing in League One, Heckingbottom’s employers gave them a huge scare during the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-finals when only a later equaliser from Christian Eriksen averted the possibility of extra-time. Narrowly beaten in the capital seven days earlier, the Dane’s first-half strike appeared to have sealed Spurs; progress before Che Adams quick-fire brace levelled the score on aggregate. Kane, Ben Davies and Ryan Mason, now one of Conte’s assistants, all took part in that match.

“Manchester City were the team I followed in England,” said Ahmedhodzic, who could get a chance to meet one of his heroes with Yaya Toure now on the coaching staff of Spurs’ academy. “I liked Toure because I thought he was so complete. But really it was because of Edin Dzeko, the Bosnian, going there. That is why I picked them but of course I am all in for us, United, now.”

Although questions about how United plan to deal with the likes of Kane and Perisic have inevitably dominated the pre-match agenda, Spurs will have questions to answer too. The overwhelming majority of Heckingbottom’s squad have represented United at top-flight level. Like Ahmedhodzic, whose CV also includes duels with Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Neymar following a spell on loan at Bordeaux last term, they won’t be fazed by the prospect of facing elite level opposition.

“It’s another game for us, for me, to go out there and do our best,” Ahmedhodzic said. “I have no special plan for Kane or whoever plays. Not yet anyway, and when we do I won’t share.”

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