Sheffield United boss acknowledges fortune after two gifts from Preston North End see them to victory

Ben Whiteman was robbed on the edge of his own box before Iliam Ndiaye thumped a finish off the inside of the post to give the Blades the lead four minutes from half time, with Oli McBurnie the beneficiary of Andrew Hughes’ mistake in the second half.

It kept United at the top of the league over the international break and maintained their unbeaten run since the opening day of the season.

As striker Ndiaye scored the opening goal, he carried the ball past a couple of desperate North End defenders and the quality he showed is something Heckingbottom expects from the Senegalese international.

He said: “We know he has those moments in him. We were critical of him at half time because when we played the ball up to Oli, Iliam and Rhian were too slow to get around it.

"We were fortunate that the Preston player thought he had time to have a touch which allowed Iliam to get the ball and from that moment on it's about what he can do with the ball and how comfortable he is and it's a terrific goal.

"A 2-0 away win, they don't come easily and you have to do a lot right to get them. Credit to the players because we weren't at our best in the first half and then in the second half we were much more like us, our strength and how we were as a team.

"I'm delighted in the end with the performance and the win. There are things that I would like to see better but you have to show a hell of a lot to come to a place like this and win 2-0.”

PNE had the better of the game in the first half, Ndiaye’s opener coming against the run of play.

Despite playing on the front foot and having most of the territory, Ryan Lowe’s side could not create a clear cut chance, with Blades’ bodies throwing themselves in front of the ball on most occasions.

In the second half the league leaders looked much more like just that, which was the aim for the Blades boss after their wake up call.

He said: “We wanted to be better in the second half than we were in the first, I think the goal woke us up. The best part of the game in the first half was the last five minutes, after the first goal.

"We knew we needed to be better and in the second half we were. It was a strong performance in the end, a strong away performance.

“Everyone impressed me today, we were all disappointed in the first half and all of them impressed in the second half.

"There were some people that applied themselves all the way through to the levels that we want and expect and it wasn't due to lack of effort, we just didn't have the same intensity. We wanted to take risks but Preston were getting in behind us without us even taking any risks.”