Paul Heckingbottom and Steve Cooper are keen to ensure all focus is about what happens on the pitch in the build-up to tonight’s Premier League encounter at the City Ground

Paul Heckingbottom says what happened after the full-time whistle the last time Sheffield United visited the City Ground has not crossed his mind in the build-up to tonight’s fixture. Heckingbottom’s men were involved in a highly controversial play-off semi-final second leg last year when they lost on penalties after a thrilling 2-1 win took the tie to spot-kicks.

Forest’s celebrations were marred by a pitch invasion, which saw captain Billy Sharp headbutted by supporter Robert Biggs, who was jailed for 24 weeks as a result, and Oli McBurnie and Rhian Brewster charged with common assault in relation to disorder in the scenes that followed.

Brewster’s charge was later dropped by prosecutors, and McBurnie was found not guilty after being forced to attend a court hearing. There are fears tonight’s match, which has been moved from Saturday due to a clash with cricket matches taking place at Trent Bridge, could well have an edge to it as a result of those events.

Both managers have rightly played that down, and Heckingbottom says the only edge he expects is from an atmosphere that reflects the fact it’s the home side’s first match of the season at the City Ground and one he hopes his players thrive in.

He said: “In terms of Forest and the atmosphere it’s their first home game anyway, so I’m looking forward to the atmosphere. I think it’s going to be noisy, electric.

We performed unbelievably well when we went there last time and we’re looking to repeat that.”

Asked if he had thought what happened last time comes into his thinking about whether to include McBurnie in his plans, Heckingbottom replied: “No, not at all. I think that is for you guys [media] to write about. There’ll only be you guys bringing that up.

“In terms of us, when it’s your job, part of the reason all the trouble happened is because people forget it’s a job. We’re performing on the pitch and doing our job, we’re disciplined by the referee and we are bound by our rules. Everything that happened there was for the police to deal with.

“We’re just doing our job. It’s football. We are just preparing to play that. The atmosphere will be great because we’ve had some good battles on the pitch previously. But that’s it. Everything off the pitch is not even mentioned.

“It shouldn’t be mentioned.”

Heckingbottom’s opposite number Steve Cooper is of a similar mindset, insisting that the focus must be on what happens on the pitch. He said: “I’ve not thought about feelings between the clubs. It’s not something we’re thinking about.

“Fair play to Sheffield United and what they did last year, bouncing back (from the play-offs defeat) and getting automatic promotion. We know how hard it is to get out of the league and to do it automatically deserves a lot of credit.

But a lot has changed here. You look at our team and how the club is growing and trying to grow, both on and off the pitch. We’re just on our own journey.

“We just think internally. The team is very different now. We’re just looking forward and looking at ourselves. Like every Premier League game, it is going to be tough.

“It will be a great atmosphere. It’s one where we’re just thinking about how we can have the best impact we can.”