Sheffield United boss admits he went from 'fuming' to 'delighted' in lively second half at Preston
- Planet Sport writer
- 29 April 2023
Fans at Brammal Lane were treated to four goals in an action-packed second-half between Sheffield United and Preston.
Paul Heckingbottom said Sheffield United's promotion back to the Premier League is "finally starting to sink in" after his side swept aside Preston at Bramall Lane.
The Blades secured a return to the top flight in midweek with victory over West Brom but, much to Heckingbottom's delight, they did not ease off and stormed to a 4-1 win over a Preston side who still harboured play-off hopes before the match.
Anel Ahmedhodzic's opener was cancelled out by Liam Delap but a late onslaught with goals from John Fleck, Iliman Ndiaye and Oli McBurnie securing victory for the FA Cup semi-finalists whilst ending North End's top-six chances.
Heckingbottom said: "I'm delighted with the performance. I think the promotion is finally starting to sink in now.
"After the semi-final at Wembley I saw a lot of fans and I said I just wanted everyone to enjoy themselves and the same went for today.
"The attitude and application has been top. The turnaround from Wednesday to Saturday is hard at the best of times but the professionalism between then and now has been brilliant.
"We didn't take our chances at the start of the second half, then they equalised and for those 10 minutes I was fuming! We went on and got the victory we deserved in the end.
"I've said before this is not my team. The team belongs to the players and the club belongs to the fans and I don't mind driving that home.
"Getting promotion has got to be everything you're about. We've got players who've had a few promotions and the young lads will definitely have learnt from them.
"Before next season we could lose players who we'd never be able to afford a replacement for. We've got them in the building already and we'll do everything we can to keep them."
