Sheffield United’ Paul Heckingbottom hopes his players WILL face Haaland in FA Cup semi-final   

Sheffield United boss Paul Heckingbottom hopes his Championship players get to face Erling Haaland in Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final having used the Manchester City star in his own coaching sessions as the perfect example for any centre forward to follow.

Heckingbottom has admired Haaland for years and doesn’t want Pep Guardiola to give his 22-year-old phenomenon a rest at Wembley as Treble-chasing City keep half-an-eye on a Premier League showdown against Arsenal next week.

‘I’ve been a big fan of his before he came to England. I was delighted City signed him because I wanted to watch him – I didn’t know we would be playing them in a semi-final of the FA Cup,’ explained the Blades manager.

‘I probably saw him more even before he joined City than I’ve done this season. He was someone I’d always speak about and use as an example to the young strikers here.

The coach said he was a ‘huge fan’ of Haaland and that he’d long followed the striker’s career 

But Heckingbottom will be unable to call upon City loanees Tommy Doyle (L) and James McAtee at Wembley

‘From that point of view, I would love him to be playing though hopefully we wouldn’t see the best of him.

‘He is all about goals. Everything he does is about how and where he can score them. He is so aggressive attacking space, making space, and loves to finish.’

Haaland netted his 48th goal of the season against Bayern Munich in midweek but even without him United will be extreme long shots despite doing well in the second tier where they could clinch promotion back to the Premier League with a win against West Brom on Wednesday.

The Blades haven’t reached an FA Cup Final since 1936 and have lost every Wembley appearance since 1925, most recently the 2014 FA Cup semi-final to Hull City.

There are strong connections with City however with a picture of their England right-back Kyle Walker still hanging on the academy wall having graduated from the Blades youth system. Heckinbottom also coached John Stones as a youngster at Barnsley.

Two City loanees Tommy Doyle and James McAtee have helped United reach the semi-finals. Both played in a famous upset against Tottenham and Doyle scored in the quarter-final win over Blackburn.

With FA rules prohibiting the youngsters to face their parent club, the pair will watch on from the sidelines at Wembley with the rest of the non-playing travelling party from Sheffield.

‘They are giving us City’s team,’ joked Heckinbottom before reflecting on the relationship with the Premier League champions that has benefitted both clubs.

‘I think there lots of reasons City allowed Tommy and James here. I like working with young players and pushing them so City knew they were coming here to get pushed,’ he said.

‘The fact people also saw us as a big fish in this league and we didn’t hide away from wanting to be at the top end, City saw that as a good reason for their players to have the challenge of expectations on their shoulders.

‘It is a strange situation for the two lads. They want to play in the FA Cup final and the only chance they have this season is with us. At the same time, if City beat us, they will probably still be at the cup final, watching them.

‘It is an FA rule that I’ve grown up, you can’t play against your parent club, but it may get looked at because other competitions have different rules and there has been a lot of talk about it.

‘This is the first time I’ve seen the bad side to it if you like because I know how much the lads wanted to play, and deserved to play.’

A cup final-promotion double would be some way for Heckingbottom to mark his first full season at Bramall Lane.

Sheffield United secured their semi-final in a pulsating 3-2 clash against Blackburn Rovers

Now sitting seven points clear in second, the Blades are edging closer to automatic promotion 

‘We need them to have a bit of an off-day but we have to play City our way, with and without the ball,’ he said. ‘Nobody on the planet is thinking about us getting to the final but that’s not to say we can’t.

‘Our cup run has had a bit of everything, the games against Wrexham captured the imagination. Our first match at Millwall, we saw the Wembley arches from our hotel!

‘Pep Guardiola has had a massive impact on all football. His time at Barcelona influenced coaches here. But he and the players are still only human, just damned good at what they do. We won’t show any fear.

‘I’ve heard the word “exhaustion” used about City’s schedule but I’m not buying into that. They could change their entire team from the one against Bayern and still have top players.’