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

Sheffield United boss Paul Heckingbottom will hope his Championship players take on Erling Haaland in Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final after using the Manchester City star in his own coaching sessions as the perfect example for any striker to to follow.

Admiring Haaland for years, Heckingbottom doesn’t want Pep Guardiola to rest his 22-year-old phenom at Wembley, while Treble-chasing City half-watch a Premier League showdown with Arsenal next week.

“I was a big fan of his before he came to England. I was really happy that City signed him because I wanted to see him – I didn’t know we would be playing them in an FA Cup semi-final,” explained the Blades manager.

“I probably saw him more before he joined City than this season. He was someone I would always talk about and use as an example to the young strikers here.

The coach said he was a “big fan” of Haaland and had followed the striker’s career for a long time

But Heckingbottom will not be able to rely on City mercenaries Tommy Doyle (L) and James McAtee at Wembley

“From that point of view I would like to see him play, although hopefully we wouldn’t see the best of him.

“It’s all about goals for him. Everything he does is about how and where to score them. He is so aggressive that he attacks space, makes space and likes to finish.’

Haaland scored his 48th goal of the season against Bayern Munich mid-week, but even without him, United will be extremely long shots despite performing well in the second tier, where they could win promotion to the Premier League on Wednesday with a win against West Brom.

The Blades have not 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.

However, there are strong links to City, with a picture of their England right-back Kyle Walker still hanging on the academy wall after graduating from the Blades youth system. Heckinbottom also coached John Stones as a youngster at Barnsley.

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

With FA rules banning the youngsters from meeting their parent club, the pair will watch from the sidelines at Wembley with the rest of the non-playing Sheffield touring party.

“They’re giving us City’s team,” Heckinbottom joked before reflecting on the relationship with the Premier League champions that has benefited both clubs.

“I think there are many reasons why City have brought Tommy and James here. I like working with young players and pushing them so City knew they came here to be pushed,” he said.

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

It’s a strange situation for the two boys. 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 watching them in the cup final.

“It’s an FA rule I grew up with, you can’t play against your parent club, but it can be watched because other leagues have different rules and it’s been talked about a lot.

“This is the first time I’ve seen the bad side of it, if you will, because I know how much the boys wanted to play and deserved to play.”

A Cup Final promotion double would be a way for Heckingbottom to mark his first full season at Bramall Lane.

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

Now with a seven-point lead over second place, the Blades are closing in on automatic promotion

“We need them on a bad day, but we have to play City our way, with and without the ball,” he said. “Nobody in the world thinks we’ll make it to the final, but that doesn’t mean we can’t.

‘Our cup run has had everything, the games against Wrexham appealed to the imagination. Our first game in Millwall, we saw the Wembley arches from our hotel!

Pep Guardiola has had a huge impact on all of football. His time at Barcelona has influenced the coaches here. But he and the players are still just people, just damn good at what they do. We will not show any fear.

“I’ve heard the word ‘exhaustion’ used about City’s schedule, but I don’t believe it. They can change their whole team from the one against Bayern and still have top players.’