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The last time Nottingham Forest faced Sheffield United in competitive action was in a Championship play-off semi-final which the former won on a penalty shoot out in May last year.
It was a tempestuous evening which ended in a pitch invasion during which a Forest supporter attacked the United striker Billy Sharp, who required medical treatment. The supporter was subsequently charged with assault. A police investigation also followed when the Scotland striker Oli McBurnie was accused of stamping on a Forest fan during the violent scenes which followed the game. The case against McBurnie – who had been carrying an injury at the time – was later dismissed after district judge Leo Pyle concluded that some of the evidence given by the Forest supporter, George Brinkley, had been “somewhat flimsy”.
McBurnie's defence lawyer, Lisa Judge, said: “The prosecution opened this case on that boot following through into a stamp. It’s quite clear that boot lifted up like a ballerina, trying to clear the legs of Mr Brinkley [who was] clutching his bottle and his programme, lying on the floor of a pitch he should not have been on.”
The two teams meet again this evening in the Premier League. Sharp has since moved on from his hometown club – ending a long, on-off association with the Blades by signing for MLS side LA Galaxy earlier this week. However, McBurnie appears to be going nowhere despite speculation linking him with a move to Leeds, the city where he was born. The 27-year-old is pally with a number of Leeds players and was a guest of Luke Ayling at Elland Road last season. But any suggestion that he might be crossing Yorkshire have been downplayed by Paul Heckingbottom, the Sheffield United manager, who admitted that despite his previous frustrations with the player – the subject of plenty of vitriol from Scotland supporters following his indifferent performances in front of the Tartan Army – is keen to secure a new contract for McBurnie.
"I hope so, yes," said Heckingbottom earlier this week when asked about the likelihood of contract talks for McBurnie. "Everyone knows with me and Oli it’s a bit of tough love. I’ve got loads of time for him but I also know that, certainly in the last few years certainly at Sheffield United, people haven’t seen him at his best of what I know and also what Oli knows he can do.”
McBurnie scored 13 times last season and added two assists as he formed a formidable partnership with Iliman Ndiaye. The Senegalese striker has since moved on to Marseille this summer and McBurnie will be expected to forge a new relationship with Benie Traore, United's new arrival from Hacken. Of course, at the back of his mind might well be his indifferent form in English football's top flight – on his previous spells in the Premier League he has scored just seven goals – but Heckingbottom believes he has the method for drawing more out of the striker.
"He’ll be pushed towards that and if we fall a little bit short it’s better than just accepting where we are right now, isn’t it? That’s the approach – he will be pushed and pushed and pushed."
What better way for McBurnie to repay Heckingbottom's faith than with a goal and a win on his return to a ground where he has experienced some particularly unhappy memories.
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