'Pushy' Paul Heckingbottom trying to move things along at Sheffield United in conversation with Prince Abdullah

Heckingbottom said he was "pushy" about putting certain topics at the front of the prince’s mind when they spoke before the 1-0 loss to Queens Park Rangers.

Issues such as contract negotiations are out of the manager’s remit, but he wants the owner to use his influence to make them the priority he thinks they should be.

"I think it's the first time I've seen Prince Abdullah in almost a year but that's not to say we're not in contact on the telephone and video calls,” he said.

"I threw a few ideas out and did my job, being a bit pushy and saying we need to consider this, this needs to happen, to make sure everyone's on the same page and we keep the right message to move things forward rather than deal with things last minute."

Progress is being made on developing the club's Shirecliffe training ground but mainstays from the Chris Wilder era like Billy Sharp, Oli McBurnie, John Fleck, Oliver Norwood, Enda Stevens and Jack O'Connell are out of contract in the summer, as are the likes of Ben Osborn, Jack Robinson and Daniel Jebbison.

Some still have things to prove, and the future of others will depend on whether the Blades are playing Premier League or Championship football next season but McBurnie, Fleck and Norwood in particular have been key figures in 2022-23, and Heckingbottom has not hidden the fact he would like contract talks with some of his players to accelerate.

Injuries have bitten hard this season but the Blades have the Championship’s deepest squad and Heckingbottom is not expecting money to spend in January.

"If so fantastic, that's what I want, but that's not how I have been told things are," he said.