Slavisa Jokanovic pays heartfelt tribute to Sheffield United after Premier League promotion

A 2-0 victory over West Brom at Bramall Lane took United back into the top flight and capped an incredible job undertaken by Heckingbottom who took up the post 17 months ago with the Blades languishing near the bottom of the Championship table.

Since then the manager has taken United into the play-offs where they were ultimately undone on penalties in the semi-finals against Nottingham Forest, but stepped up further this season to go up automatically.

Heckingbottom had come in in November 2021, moving from a role with the under-23s which he had returned to following a spell in charge on an interim basis afer Chris Wilder had left the club in the midst of a poor second season in the Premier League.

Jokanovic had been a popular appointment after success in the Championship with Watford and Fulham but struggled to put his own stamp on a team that had been largely built by Wilder and conditioned to play in a particular way. The Serb left having won just six of his 19 matches in charge.

However, Jokanovic clearly still holds affection for United as he congratulated his former club on their promotion.

He tweeted on Thursday morning: “Congratulations to Sheffield United on their promotion! Happy for the club and the fans.”

United now have three more games before their season is completed, with their final home match of the campaign coming at Bramall Lane on Saturday against Preston.