After coming close to promotion last season making it to the play-offs but losing out in the semi-finals to Nottingham Forest, Sheffield United are keen to build upon their season and push for promotion again next year. 

Although the summer transfer window has been a bit slow for the Blades so far, they received a certain boost today as they announced the signing of Ciaran Clark on a season long loan deal from Newcastle United.

The defender will be hoping he can have a big part to play in the side's promotion push next year with plenty of experience and a Championship title already under his belt.

The 32-year-old only made 13 Premier League appearances for Newcastle last season and is excited for the season ahead and more game time as he told the club's Official Media: "I'm delighted, I've had a couple of conversations with the manager, we talked about the style of play, me knowing a few of the boys and the challenge that is in front of us.

"I'm looking forward to playing regularly, fitting into the style of play and formation, we know the Championship is tough but with a huge togetherness and a big effort by everyone, the squad has the quality to get out of the league. I saw how close the club went last season and the aim now is to get promoted."

The Verdict:

This is a great move for all parties ahead of the new season. Clark is a defender with plenty of experience as well as being a solid player at this level and you can definitely see him helping Sheffield United with their aims next season.

From his words, you can already see that the goal of promotion is already being set out very clearly and all the players are buying into the aim for next season.

Clark wasn't getting game time at Newcastle and that was only going to continue this summer with the Magpies looking to rise up the table. However, you can see that the defender is hungry to get some regular football under his belt and he will be hoping his performances at Bramall Lane are worthy of that.