Sheffield United boss Paul Heckingbottom has jumped to the defence of Manchester City loanee James McAtee after his strong tackle sparked a brawl in the 1-0 loss to Coventry on Wednesday night.
The 20-year-old’s challenge on Fankaty Dabo on 38 minutes prompted a shoving match between players, which ended with the midfielder being shown a yellow card despite protests from the hosts calling for a red.
The Blades went on to lose to an 87th-minute Martyn Waghorn penalty to extend their winless run to five games. After the game, Coventry boss Mark Robins said he was told by club analysts that McAtee was off the ground when he made the challenge, although admitted that it “didn’t look like it was going to be a red card at that time”.
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He told Coventry Live : "No one wants to see people sent off, that’s for sure. I haven’t seen a replay but I was told his feet were off the ground and really, from behind it, you can see they’re off the ground and if you’re out of control that’s one of the factors."
Heckingbottom defended City youngster McAtee, claiming the tackle “gave the game a bit of an edge”.
As reported by Yorkshire Live, he said: "I thought the game was slow to start with and probably after Macca's tackle, which I thought was a really good tackle in front of us, it gave the game a bit of an edge. Then I thought we were on top from that moment."
McAtee has played 12 times for Sheffield United during his loan spell, scoring once and also assisting once.
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