'Our experienced players need to step up'

Sheffield United boss Paul Heckingbottom has called on his more experienced players to "step up" and help the newer members of the squad "get their feet under the table and adapt".

The Blades need to bounce back from Sunday's 8-0 thrashing at the hands of Newcastle United, which left them bottom of the Premier League with one point from six games.

Before his side travel to West Ham United on Saturday, Heckingbottom said: "We've got a lot of players who are new and trying to find their feet, not only in our club but in English football as well and the Premier League.

"We can't expect them to be coming in and dominating vocally. They've got to get their feet under the table and adapt, and to do that you tend to have to be performing well enough on the pitch.

"That will only come with performances or the [amount of] time they're at this club. There are still a lot of experienced players here, who know the standards and the level of this league, who we need to step up and make sure they take on the extra responsibility.

"It's not down to one or two [players], it's down to everyone - and while we can do all the work we want on the training ground, you've got to enjoy the challenge of the battle on the pitch and implementing it on the pitch."