Sheffield United have finally got to the bottom of key defender's injury issue
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Basham has not featured since February after limping out of a Premier League game against Fulham with what was described at the time as a calf muscle problem.
Previously a mainstay of United’s 2017 and 2019 promotion winning squads, the centre-half has yet to make an appearance under Heckingbottom, who was placed in temporary charge when Chris Wilder left his position last month.
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Hide AdAlthough the former Barnsley, Leeds and Hibernian chief confirmed Basham will again be absent when United face Brighton and Hove Albion tomorrow night - their first outing since being officially relegated from the top-flight - he insisted the defender’s recovery is finally picking up speed.
“It wasn’t a muscle tear,” Heckingbottom said, explaining Basham’s diagnosis has now changed. “Maybe, and this is what we think, it was something like a tendon pressing on a nerve.
“When he tried to come back initially, he could still feel it. It’s a strange one.”
With Jack O’Connell undergoing surgery at the beginning of the campaign, United have played the majority of the season without their first choice back three which was a driving force behind their ninth placed finish last term.
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Hide AdThey enter the meeting with Albion hoping to avoid a seventh straight defeat in all competitions.
“It’s a concern with Bash that we haven’t been able to use him,” Heckingbottom said. “But he’s progressing well.”