Sheffield United manager Paul Heckingbottom has revealed centre-back Filip Uremovic told him he doesn't see any difference between the Blades and top-two sides Fulham and AFC Bournemouth in terms of quality, with the 44-year-old speaking to The Star.

The Blades suffered a poor start to the season under Slavisa Jokanvoic and were sitting 16th in the table following his last game in charge - but successor Heckingbottom managed to turn the tide and guide them to a fifth-place finish.

Although their rise may not have been as dramatic as Forest's, who were sitting at the bottom of the table after eight league games, this was seen as a major achievement by many with United managing to fulfil their potential once again.

Switching to a back-three system and implementing a higher-tempo style of play, United thrived during the second half of the season and though their place in the play-offs wasn't sealed until the final day of the last, their fifth-place finish gave them a real chance of securing their Premier League return at the first time of asking.

After being ripped apart by Nottingham Forest during the first half of the first leg, the Blades managed to raise their game and even claimed a 2-1 victory at the City Ground to take the tie to penalties.

But they were denied a place at Wembley by Brice Samba who was formidable between the sticks during the shootout. Despite their exit from the play-offs, Uremovic believes they are just as good as two teams that will definitely be plying their trade in the top flight next term.

Heckingbottom said: "Filip said he didn’t see any difference between us, Fulham and Bournemouth, who we faced not so long ago and came second.

"He reckoned, genuinely, he thought there was nothing between any of us. That’s because he came here when the lads really picked up.

"When you consider the level he’s been involved at, it was a really good thing to hear."

The Verdict:

It might be a bit of a stretch to compare the Blades to the Cottagers because the latter were formidable in front of goal during the 2021/22 campaign, though Aleksandar Mitrovic did have quite a big part to play in that with his 43 league goals.

This attacking record is one of the reasons why they aren't at Marco Silva's side's level just yet, though United's defence has been just as good and that's probably one of the reasons why the Croatian has made this claim.

Bournemouth, unlike the Blades, made a great start to 2021/22 but performed under expectations on quite a few occasions during the second half of the season, so Uremovic certainly has a case to say his side were better than the Cherries at some points.

One thing that is impressive about Scott Parker's side though is the fact they showed up when they needed to, managing to keep Nottingham Forest at bay before Kieffer Moore's decisive strike at the Vitality Stadium earlier this month.

If Heckingbottom had been in charge for the entire season though, his side would have given the top two a run for their money and the same thing can be said for Steve Cooper and Forest who have been extremely consistent.