BLADES CARVE WAY PAST THE CANARIES ON A CRITICAL DAY

McAtee rises to occasion

- Steve Parker

PAUL Heckingbottom felt Sheffield United deserved their victory at Norwich which took them six points clear of their nearest rivals in the hunt for automatic promotion.

A hard-fought game of few clear-cut chances was settled just after the hour mark with a close range goal from Manchester City loanee James McAtee, with loud appeals for offside from Norwich falling on death ears.

With Neil Warnock doing his former employeers a favour by guiding his Huddersfield side to victory against Middlesbrough, the Blades are now in a position of strength going into their final seven games, and Heckingbottom was delighted with his team’s efforts at Carrow Road.

“This is a tough place to come - Norwich were a Premier League side last season and have a lot of good players,” he said.

“They are the sort of team we measure ourselves against and we have come here and put in a good performance. I would say we were good value for it, too.

“Wes Foderingham has only had one save to make, and that was right at the end, while we had a number of good chances.