Sheffield United are certainly justifying their pre-season promotion credentials, as Chris Wilder's side stake a serious claim for a long-awaited return to the Premier League. 

The Blades are currently 4th in the Championship table and they head into the weekend's set of fixtures full of confidence after beating Brentford in midweek.

One player who is yet to feature for large parts of this season is on-loan winger, Ben Woodburn, who is sure to be a frustrated figure with the promotion chasing side.

The Liverpool youngster has made just one start for the Blades in their league campaign and Reds boss, Jurgen Klopp has weighed in with his verdict on Woodburn's lack of game time in this years campaign.

"Sheffield United are obviously playing a brilliant season and it’s always difficult to come in. A Championship team is quality and if you are high up in the table it’s even more quality", Klopp admitted in a recent press conference. 

"Ben is still an unbelievably young boy. He had the opportunity to come back and play the game here – and obviously play it really well."

The Liverpool boss felt that the loan hasn't worked out as well as he would have hoped, with Woodburn rarely featuring for the Blades in a disappointing spell with the club so far- but it was a move that the Welsh international was keen on in the first place.

"We will never lose him or think: ‘He is not doing well enough in Sheffield.’ It’s normal. He wanted it – he wanted to come into a situation where he had to prove himself somewhere else.

"So far, it didn’t work out brilliantly but being in a situation like this and having some problems after eight or nine years with absolutely no problem in his development – because he was a standout player in our youth department – is very important."

Chris Wilder's side host Leeds in what is sure to be a fiercely contested battle at Bramall Lane on Saturday, and it will be a stern test of their promotion credentials this season.

The Verdict: 

It will be hugely frustrating for Liverpool supporters to see one of their brightest young prospects not getting valuable game time out on loan this season.

But it is difficult to see where Woodburn would fit into Chris Wilder's starting XI at Sheffield United, especially given the excellent start to the season that they have already made.

It's likely that he will see the youngster called back by Liverpool in January, where they will then hope to find him a club where he can get regular game time under his belt to help fulfil his exciting potential.