Sheffield United vs Coventry City

UTB 17
played internationally for a long
time, and they push the new
players that come into the squad.
Everyone’s journey has been
different, but there is a respect
amongst the players and a desire
to prove people wrong because
we are so often the underdogs.”
UTB: Before we switch the
focus back to the Blades, how
would you summarise your first
experience of playing in a major
tournament?
IN: “The time will come to
sit down and reflect properly
on what has happened and
what I achieved, but that isn’t
now. I loved every minute
of the experience, but it has
been a learning curve for me
too. It is only going to help my
game in the long-term, being
exposed to playing against
some top international players
from different countries and
continents. The conditions were
obviously different to overcome
too, but I feel I’m improving all
the time and the exposure to
international football is only
helping my development.
The group we were drawn was
similar to the Championship,
nobody was convincing, and
anyone could have beaten
anyone on the day.”
UTB: Now you are back
‘home’ how excited are you
for football over the festive
period, starting this afternoon
against Coventry City at
Bramall Lane.
IN: “The schedule is
hectic over the next week
or so, it looks better than it
did before the World Cup, but
for club or country I just look
forward to every game. I focused
only on United before the
tournament and having enjoyed
the challenge of playing in it, my
focus is now back on helping
us win promotion. We’ve been
excellent at home for the majority
of the season, and we have some
good fixtures to look forward
to. I can’t wait for a packed
Bramall Lane on Boxing Day;
the lads are raring to go again,
and we have a real chance to
build more momentum. It is our
job to play football, so training
over Christmas is something we
should be happy to do, we get
paid well so we should only be
excited.”
UTB: As we prepare to
enter 2023, is it fair to say the
Blades are well positioned in
the table to go one better than
last season?
IN: “We are certainly in a good
place, just behind Burnley at the
top of the Championship, but
although sitting second in the
table at Christmas is good, it will
count for nothing if we aren’t in
the same place after 46 games.
We feel we’ve already overcome
so much this season in terms of
injuries, so we are delighted to
be where we are in all honesty
and with the bodies now coming
back into the squad, it will
hopefully just make us stronger
and enable us to be even better
in the second half of the season,
with the manager having more
options in all positions.”
SHEFFIELD UNITED vs COVENTRY CITY