Tony Mowbray has discusses Blades manager Paul Heckingbottom, their FA Cup run and their poor run of form as of late...
HECKY
"I like Paul, I think he carries lots of emotional intelligence. I think he's a bright guy, he knows which buttons to press with his footballers, to put it into context two years ago they were up to tenth in the Premier League doing extraordinarily well and there's still a lot of those players at that football club so we shouldn't be surprised that Sheffield United are doing really well. I think Hecky’s done an amazing job because he almost fell upon the job really being a part of the staff and he got thrust in and did so well that they kept him going. I really like Paul Heckingbottom and the way he carries himself, and his team reflect his values and the work ethic that they bring."
BAD PATCH
"We were looking at their data today, they've won two of the last six. They've hit a spell that at this stage of the season they'd have liked to have been powering on and winning game after game and they've found it a little bit more difficult, they're on a bit like we went through last month of a spell of games where it was literally every three days because of their progression in the FA Cup. They've got Blackburn Rovers on Saturday in the quarter final of the FA Cup to get to Wembley and it will be interesting to see. I’m assuming their focus is 100% on the league and not the cup because the league promises Premier League football if they can finish second."
BIG TEST
"So it’s a big test for us but one that over the last six games they've found the going difficult. Probably because of the game every three days that I think this club found the going difficult when we hit a spell when we had a cup replay and games kept coming and coming and we lost a couple of games that if they were Saturday to Saturday games we would have won. That's what can happen, the team can drain a little bit of energy. I saw his interview after the previous game and he said it was their lowest physical data of the season and they need to adjust and address that so I'm expecting them to come trying to put a real physical effort into this game and we have to be ready to match that."
BOUNCE BACK
"I think top teams react from adversity and I expect them to come fired up and really focused on their jobs which is okay because that's the challenge. You want to beat the best teams on their best, not win 1-0 and they say 'everybody was out on their feet that was the worst performance of the season from us'. You want them to be able to give them their best shot and match that and better it so we look forward to Sheffield United coming full of energy, and drive and commitment and we have to see if were good enough to cope with it."
