We felt it was coming – Paul Heckingbottom heaps praise on battling Blades

Posted Tuesday, January 03, 2023 by PA

Paul Heckingbottom insisted Sheffield United fully deserved their point after John Egan’s last-gasp equaliser in a 1-1 draw at QPR.

Ilias Chair’s 11th-minute goal – after a mistake by Egan – looked like giving Rangers their first home win under Neil Critchley.

But Egan netted with seconds remaining for second-placed United, leaving them five rather than six points behind Sky Bet Championship leaders Burnley.

“I think we deserved it. It was a pretty even game,” Blades boss Heckingbottom said.

“We were disappointed with the way we conceded the first goal and it changed the dynamic of the game, but we worked our way back into it.

“We pushed and pushed and I thought we more than deserved it in the end. We felt it was coming. We were really pushing towards the end and we kept going.”

Chair’s opener came after Egan gave the ball away while trying to play out from the back.

Chris Willock teed up the Morocco international, whose shot took a heavy deflection off Egan, completely wrong-footing goalkeeper Wes Foderingham.

But Heckingbottom defended Egan, saying: “I’m not bothered about mistakes – I’m more bothered when people don’t want the ball.

“I’ve got to accept mistakes and we’ll make more between now and the end of the season.

“We were brave and kept wanting the ball and kept pushing, so I don’t want any fear from our players.

“We weren’t at our best with the ball and QPR are always good on the counter-attack. Then in the second half we got more possession, won the ball back and had chances.”

QPR boss Critchley hit back at suggestions he would have happily accepted a point before the game.

“Why would I take a draw against them? No. That’s a mentality we’ve got to change,” he said. “We go to win every game, home and away, and it doesn’t matter who we play against.

“They’re second in the league and we were more than a match for them.

“I thought we were excellent for long periods of the game against what is a very good team.

“We were on the front foot, went toe-to-toe with them and gave a great account of ourselves. I’m just disappointed the players haven’t got the winning feeling I felt the performance merited.”

Rangers had suffered four consecutive home defeats and their performance was certainly an improvement on their recent 3-0 loss to Luton.

Critchley said: “There was no hangover from our defeat the other night and that’s because of our mentality and mindset, and that’s what I want to instill in the players.

“We’ve got to show belief in who we are and what we’re doing. We looked a good team tonight and I’ve taken a lot of positives from that performance.”