Sheffield United boss Paul Heckingbottom admits he'd welcome re-signing Manchester City pair Tommy Doyle and James McAtee.

The midfielders helped United on-loan win promotion to the Premier League last season.

Ahead of today's clash with City, Heckingbottom said of Doyle: "No, he's not (playing) and he's got one or two options.

“We know. I've been in touch with his representatives a lot and he has one or two options, so I'm not going to say yes or no.

“Both Macca and Tommy came and made this place their home and everyone took to them, whether that's staff, the players, the fans. They were a credit to Manchester City and their families. Not only good footballers, but good lads as well."

Asked about signing McAtee, Heckingbottom added: “It's always down to the parent clubs. We can speak to as many different players as we want, we have to get the player to want to come, the representatives, sometimes the families are involved. But we have to be respectful that all these players we are speaking to, apart from Tom Davies who had left Everton, are other people's players.

“We want good relationships with lots of clubs but certainly, we want to make sure we do things right by everyone. That's the difficulty with bringing players in. A lot of people need to be happy to get a deal done."