Sheffield United legend Paddy Kenny believes his former side are making the right decision by not looking to send misfiring forward Rhian Brewster out on loan in January, speaking to Football Insider.

The 21-year-old has endured a miserable time at Bramall Lane since his £23.5m arrival from Liverpool last October, scoring just once in 38 competitive games for the South Yorkshire outfit and even failing to record a single assist as his woes in front of goal continue.

However, he hasn't had the chance to make amends in his side's past five league games, failing to win a single minute of action in over 450 minutes of Championship football and being left out of the squad altogether in recent matches against Stoke City and Millwall.

 

 

His cause hasn't been helped by the soft red card he received against Andorra on international duty, understandably reacting furiously to his dismissal after a disappointing performance for his standards.

It doesn't seem to be working out for him for both club and country at the moment, with the wealth of options the Blades have up top also affecting his chances of getting on the pitch.

With Billy Sharp, Lys Mousset and David McGoldrick ahead of him in the pecking order - and Oli McBurnie another option manager Slavisa Jokanovic could utilise - the United boss was asked whether Brewster would be loaned out.

His answer to that was a firm no, something ex-Blades goalkeeper Kenny is a big fan of. Speaking on this latest development to Football Insider, he said: "He’s spot on there, Slavisa Jokanovic.

"He cost a lot of money but he’s had a difficult time there. He’s been in and out of the team and that makes it harder for a striker to get into the swing of things.

"I always say that a centre-forward needs five or six games but he hasn’t been given that time.

"He has played in different positions across that forward line as well. That has made things even more difficult for him.

"But they need to stick with him and hope that quality shines through. They are desperate for a goalscorer and the defeat to Millwall proved that again."

The Verdict:

Sheffield United should keep faith in him - but they can still do that whilst sending him out on loan to flourish elsewhere before coming back next season.

If he's only going to make short cameos and spend some of the season out of the matchday 18, this will be detrimental to his progression and would go a long way in ensuring they don't receive any sort of return for the £23.5m investment they made last year.

You can understand why the Blades may not want to loan the 21-year-old out to a fellow Championship side because the talented England Under-21 international may help a second-tier rival in getting to the top six at the expense of themselves - but finding him a side where he will play every week has to be the priority if they want to help him revive his career at Bramall Lane.

The potential alternative is to let him remain out in the cold in South Yorkshire, something that would be detrimental to something he needs the most right now: confidence.

A return to the bench in the next couple of games and pitch time could allow him to respond to his omission in recent games, but he will have a huge task with other forwards currently ahead of him in the queue to take Sharp's spot up top.