Paul Heckingbottom in a world of pain as patience and hope drains away at struggling Sheffield United

Where defensive statistics were once a source of great pride for Paul Heckingbottom, this season’s numbers are the kind that will be keeping the Sheffield United boss up at night.

His side have already shipped 34 goals this season meaning the second-best defence in the Championship last season has quickly become the most porous in the top flight this season.

Only two sides in Premier League history have ever conceded more goals after 13 games than the Blades. Conceding another three in a 3-1 defeat to Bournemouth on Saturday did little to help that.

But it will be the manner of the goals, rather than the number, which most concerns Heckingbottom.

Marcus Tavernier scored Bournemouth’s first and last of the game and both came as a result of Sheffield United failing to apply any sort of pressure on Antonine Semenyo and Adam Smith, the men who supplied him.

The second of the game came on the stroke of half-time and summed up the afternoon as an error from goalkeeper Wes Foderingham gifted Justin Kluivert his first Premier League goal.

‘We’ve had cruel moments where we deserved more and it’s been snatched away from us but you can’t feel sorry for yourselves in that moment because you’re playing against top players and no one’s going to give us points,’ said Heckingbottom.

‘Today [Saturday] we were part of the reason we lost, that’s why this one hurts a little bit more.’

So, where does the inquest start for Heckingbottom? Well, a start would be defending their box better given that 30 of the goals they have conceded have come from shots taken inside their own penalty area.

They also need to start stopping the supply. The Blades have faced 33 shots more than any other side this season and cutting out individual mistakes would help to rectify that trend. No side has given up more shots as a result of errors this season than Sheffield United.

This result may be nowhere near as bad on paper as the 8-0 drubbing on home soil against Newcastle in September, not least because of Oli McBurnie’s late consolation. But it was noticeable how both patience and hope is draining quickly inside Bramall Lane.

Things, meanwhile, seem to be coming together nicely for Andoni Iraola at Bournemouth. He will hope this result, their first away league win of the season, kickstarts a rise up the table.