‘Not stupid’ - Sheffield United boss names the Everton player who he’s a ‘big fan’ of

Paul Heckingbottom couldn’t hide his admiration for Jordan Pickford despite the Everton goalkeeper denying Sheffield United a maiden Premier League victory this season.

The pair had lost their opening three matches of the 2023-24 campaign respectively ahead of Saturday’s Bramall Lane encounter. And the honours were even in south Yorkshire as a frenetic 2-2 draw was played out.

Everton took the lead in the 14th minute through Abdoulaye Doucoure yet went into half-time behind. Cameron Archer got United level before the striker’s curling effort in stoppage-time struck the post and fortuitously rebounded off Pickford, with the ball rolling into the unguarded net.

Arnaut Danjuma levelled for the Toffees after the interval but the home side thought they’d earned all three points at the very death. Oli McBurnie’s header from a corner was pushed onto the bar by Pickford before the Everton No.1 then made a stunning stop to deny the second attempt.

And Heckingbottom was full of praise for Pickford and felt a point apiece was fair. Speaking to reporters, the United boss said: “I wondered if he’d have actually saved that. It’s an unreal save, the second one, he doesn’t know too much about, it hits his head and hits the post. Big moment. It’s another example of why we love the game and how fine the margins are.

“We’re not stupid, we know we’re going to need a lot of those moments to go in our favour this season. Today, it didn’t but I can’t grumble, it was a really good game and probably a fair result.”

He added: “I’m a big fan of him. it’s probably something I’ll be thinking about for the next two weeks, that moment.”