Chris Wilder Rhian Brewster
Paul Heckingbottom says he plans to give Rhian Brewster more game time during the remainder of the season. The 20-year-old striker is yet to score in 23 appearances for Sheffield United this season, but Heckingbottom has been impressed with him in training since taking over from Chris Wilder on March 13.
Paul Heckingbottom said: That’s certainly a focus of mine. He has responded very well first and foremost and I have been pleased from that point of view. I have had chats with him about it and certainly one of my aims is that he is going to get a lot of focus and attention to try and get him scoring goals and trying to get him to provide the team with the off-the-ball work that he needs to get minutes on the pitch. He understands that. It is a different environment for him and he is a young player but he’s a highly talented player. He’s going to get a lot of attention from us certainly. We are not talking about what’s gone on before, it’s about looking forward and I have tried to make it really clear. If you want to play in this team this is what we need to see. He has undoubted quality and I have seen him play a lot. He strikes such a great ball with his right foot so making his role without the ball really clear and the work rate and the effort that we want in that respect will buy him the minutes on the pitch because he’s performing the role for his team. If he’s on the pitch he might have the ball for two minutes max, it’s the other 88 minutes. He’s responded very well and hopefully we can keep driving him forward and get him some goals before the end of the season. If Rhian keeps pushing and keeps going in this direction then he will certainly get more minutes because I think there are plenty of goals in him.”
Sheffield United are bracing themselves for life in the Championship next season, with the Blades currently 14 points from safety. United have taken just 14 points from 29 matches so far but are aware that Brewster, who signed a five-year deal in October, is likely to be a key player in the 2021/22 campaign.
