'Heckingbottom knows cultures and values of Blades'

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder has expressed his admiration towards former colleague and current Preston North End boss Paul Heckingbottom before Friday evening's match (20:00 BST) between the sides.

Heckingbottom was brought to the Blades by Wilder in 2020 to manage the under-23s and he eventually became the permanent boss, gaining promotion with the club in 2023.

Wilder told BBC Radio Sheffield: "I know Paul well, so I have a lot of admiration and respect for Paul. I'm sure people realise it was me who brought him into the football club.

"He's a good character and he knows the culture and values of our football club, and I'm sure he's trying to implement those cultures and values from his successful time here, into Preston North End."

Preston have had an inconsistent start to the season having lost their past two games and winning just two of their past eight league fixtures.

"We're all after that consistency, so there's been down days for Paul as much as there's been the up days," Wilder added.

"They've started the season on the front foot and got themselves into a good position, but as the competition is, you can win games but you can lose.

"They've lost their last two and they'll not want to lose three on the spin. We'll want to win three on the spin and they'll want to turn that around, so [it should be a] really competitive [game].

"I always look at Preston North End's squad and it's always full of good loans and really experienced Championship players, so it's always a tough test home and away and we're expecting nothing else."

Listen to the full interview and more on BBC Sounds.