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Paul Heckingbottom refuses to 'give away' debuts to young players

:Headline: Paul Heckingbottom refuses to 'give away' debuts to young players:
The Blades' relegation was confirmed by last weekend's defeat against Wolves.
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Paul Heckingbottom refuses to 'give away' debuts to young players

Paul Heckingbottom will not be tempted to throw too many of Sheffield United's young players into the fray over the last six matches of the season.

The Blades' relegation was confirmed by defeat against Wolves last weekend, giving interim boss Heckingbottom the chance for a change of approach as focus turns to next season in the Sky Bet Championship.

Asked if he would opt to give the club's young players some first-team action, Heckingbottom said: "We've introduced a few this season, we've had a couple of debuts, we've had different bodies on the bench, which is great, and we may have had more if it wasn't for the Covid restrictions.

"It would be good but you can't give them away. I've seen too much harm done when you're giving debuts away for the sake of it.

"The facts back that up in terms of players making their first-team debuts – those making them at the beginning of a season have far more successful careers than those making them at the end of a season, because a lot of those are token gestures."

In terms of summer recruitment, Heckingbottom – who expects to resume his job with the under-23s at the end of the season or before – does not believe wholesale changes are necessary.

"Comings and goings will all be taken care of in the close season as they always are," he said. "In terms of conversations I've been part of, it's all been about that – what do we think we need? What's the most important thing going forward next season if the club want to do well?

"I've said you've got to keep the squad together. Good group of boys who are determined to do well. Add where we need to add with as much quality as possible. Is it going to speed up? I don't know. You need to have a man in charge to make those decisions."

With matches against Brighton, Burnley and Newcastle left in their fixture list, the Blades are likely to have a say in who joins them in the Championship next season.

Graham Potter's side are up first, and Heckingbottom said: "They're a good footballing team with lots of good ideas when they're in possession of the ball and I'm expecting a good game. I enjoy watching them play.

"We're trying to be really positive and keep producing performances with energy and playing on the front foot because, although our season's over in terms of we know what our fate is, we've still got six games where we've got points we can win.

"Players are playing for their own pride and also their own careers so that's our focus, that's the importance of the game in front of us, and we'll continue to do that in the remaining games."

Heckingbottom expects to select from the same squad as for the Wolves game, with Sander Berge and Jack Robinson building up their fitness following lengthy injury absences.

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Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool21155150203050
2Arsenal22128243212244
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest22135433221144
4Chelsea22117444271740
5Manchester CityMan City22115644291538
6Newcastle UnitedNewcastle22115638261238
7Bournemouth22107536261037
8Aston Villa2210663334-136
9Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2281043530534
10Fulham228953430433
11Brentford2284104039128
12Crystal Palace226972528-327
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd2275102732-526
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham2275102743-1626
15Tottenham HotspurSpurs22731245351024
16Everton214891828-1020
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves2244143251-1916
18Ipswich TownIpswich2237122043-2316
19Leicester CityLeicester2235142348-2514
20Southampton2213181550-356
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