05-12-2024, 19:22
Hot seat words
Paul Heckingbottom confirmed that both Liam Lindsay and Mads Frøkjær have trained all week and will be available to face Sheffield Wednesday.
North End’s No.6 has missed the previous four matches through injury and the Danish midfielder has been absent for the last two fixtures with a hamstring issue.
They’ll both be back involved for Saturday’s trip to Hillsborough, though, while Robbie Brady isn’t far off a return himself – although the weekend will come too soon.
Asked about increased competition resulting in tougher decisions, Hecky said: “It's the right thing to have everyone fit and available. If you want to be successful, you want that all the time.
“There does come elements of that, which changes how you have to manage people and the conversations you have with certain people, definitely. But ultimately, all of us, players and staff, we all want to be in a successful team and part of that means you've always got competition.
“You’re always judged every week. It's the way it should be. Just because you're left out one week doesn't mean you can't start the week after because when you've got everyone fit and available, it allows you to do that as well.”
The manager will be hoping that more bodies coming back will mean more chance of getting results, which North End are yearning for on the back of a period where they feel their performances have deserved more.
Hecky said after the previous match that he’s been pleased with 90-95% of his side’s performances since his arrival, however it’s the important stuff in both boxes that hasn’t quite been right.
Hecky said: “Whether you want to pick out individual games or since the Luton game, looking at trends and performances, if you're tracking the whole thing we’ve improved the amount of chances we've created and our attacking threat.
“We've limited the threats on our goal, yet we've still not managed to change those results round often enough.
“It shows that so much is right, but we need to be more clinical at one end of the pitch.
“At the minute, the opposition teams have been more clinical against us for the few opportunities that we've given them.”
There’ll be a minor sub-plot to Saturday’s clash against Sheffield Wednesday, too, with Hecky returning to a club with whom he earned promotion. However, now adored by the Sheffield United faithful for his exploits with them, his reception may not be the same as his previous visit.
In the Owls, PNE are facing a side who have won their last two and are enjoying a steady season so far – sitting 12th in the Championship.
Hecky said: “In terms of results and form, the results last season were probably better over the period, but they've not changed too much. People are saying they've picked up results and they're playing well, but they're probably not playing any better than they were at the start of the season. I think that just shows how tight this league is.
“I think Danny [Röhl] has used his squad well – a good squad – so he's still able to bring on good players from the bench and affect the games really positively.
“It shows that they're a well-organised, hard-working team. I think that regardless of if they've been at their best and on top in a game, they're still able to pose a real threat with the pace they've got, and they can be a really direct team.
“I think we know how dangerous they're going to be and the fact that they've been picking up results as well when arguably they’ve not being playing the best football they've had this season, shows that they're a tough team to play against.”
Paul Heckingbottom confirmed that both Liam Lindsay and Mads Frøkjær have trained all week and will be available to face Sheffield Wednesday.
North End’s No.6 has missed the previous four matches through injury and the Danish midfielder has been absent for the last two fixtures with a hamstring issue.
They’ll both be back involved for Saturday’s trip to Hillsborough, though, while Robbie Brady isn’t far off a return himself – although the weekend will come too soon.
Asked about increased competition resulting in tougher decisions, Hecky said: “It's the right thing to have everyone fit and available. If you want to be successful, you want that all the time.
“There does come elements of that, which changes how you have to manage people and the conversations you have with certain people, definitely. But ultimately, all of us, players and staff, we all want to be in a successful team and part of that means you've always got competition.
“You’re always judged every week. It's the way it should be. Just because you're left out one week doesn't mean you can't start the week after because when you've got everyone fit and available, it allows you to do that as well.”
The manager will be hoping that more bodies coming back will mean more chance of getting results, which North End are yearning for on the back of a period where they feel their performances have deserved more.
Hecky said after the previous match that he’s been pleased with 90-95% of his side’s performances since his arrival, however it’s the important stuff in both boxes that hasn’t quite been right.
Hecky said: “Whether you want to pick out individual games or since the Luton game, looking at trends and performances, if you're tracking the whole thing we’ve improved the amount of chances we've created and our attacking threat.
“We've limited the threats on our goal, yet we've still not managed to change those results round often enough.
“It shows that so much is right, but we need to be more clinical at one end of the pitch.
“At the minute, the opposition teams have been more clinical against us for the few opportunities that we've given them.”
There’ll be a minor sub-plot to Saturday’s clash against Sheffield Wednesday, too, with Hecky returning to a club with whom he earned promotion. However, now adored by the Sheffield United faithful for his exploits with them, his reception may not be the same as his previous visit.
In the Owls, PNE are facing a side who have won their last two and are enjoying a steady season so far – sitting 12th in the Championship.
Hecky said: “In terms of results and form, the results last season were probably better over the period, but they've not changed too much. People are saying they've picked up results and they're playing well, but they're probably not playing any better than they were at the start of the season. I think that just shows how tight this league is.
“I think Danny [Röhl] has used his squad well – a good squad – so he's still able to bring on good players from the bench and affect the games really positively.
“It shows that they're a well-organised, hard-working team. I think that regardless of if they've been at their best and on top in a game, they're still able to pose a real threat with the pace they've got, and they can be a really direct team.
“I think we know how dangerous they're going to be and the fact that they've been picking up results as well when arguably they’ve not being playing the best football they've had this season, shows that they're a tough team to play against.”
Why should a man go to work, if he has the health and strength to stay in bed?