Sheffield United boss Paul Heckingbottom still expected his side to come out on top, despite seeing them go behind twice in their 5-2 victory over Championship leaders Burnley.

An Oli McBurnie brace helped the Blades turn a 2-1 half-time deficit into a convincing win.

Heckingbottom said: “The game went exactly how we thought it would. We knew Burnley would try and play on the front foot and win, they’ve got lots of good players.

“We weren’t going to change our approach, we want to play on the front foot too. As well as Burnley have done, we’ve got good players as well.

“Of course we don’t want to be behind against a good side, but I felt I saw enough in the first half that we would come back. I still expected us to win.

“We made mistakes, but if you feel sorry for yourself on a football pitch you’re not going to get on it in the first place.

“We were always going to take risks and press them. I know how I want us to play and it’s the right thing to do in my eyes.

“When you fall behind like we did, you have to take even more risks. The response after the second goal was key and we played our way back into it.

“It’s good to see our front men scoring goals, but it’s not about picking the best 11 players, it’s about picking the team that is going to win the game.”

Burnley took the lead through a deflected effort from Manuel Benson, who restored their advantage on the stroke of half-time following Iliman Ndiaye’s equaliser.

McBurnie’s header brought the Blades level again and they struck twice more through quickfire goals from Jack Robinson and Anel Ahmedhodzic before McBurnie netted his second of the afternoon.

Praising McBurnie, Heckingbottom said: “He was good. He gave us a different outlet and the deliveries in the box were good. It gave us an extra threat.”

Burnley manager Vincent Kompany refused to be too down-hearted following the heavy defeat.

He said: “I asked as much as I can from the players. Our game is based around playing on the front foot and it makes it difficult when we’re behind.

“The first half was very similar to most of our games. We had a lot of the ball and looked dangerous.

“It doesn’t surprise me the first half was good and the second half didn’t go so well. We couldn’t regain momentum. United were on top and they took full advantage of that.

“A big part of our game disappeared and we couldn’t go after them anymore. I could see in the lads’ eyes it wasn’t a lack of wanting.

“We went behind quite quickly in the second half, but my first thought isn’t to make subs. I wanted the players on the pitch to get us back into the game.

“Maybe we needed this defeat. Burnley is a humble club, but as we’ve done well for a sustained period of time we have to make sure we don’t get carried away and losses bring that home.

“We don’t roll over, we will take the hurt but we move on and I look forward to the reverse fixture at Turf Moor.”