Sheffield United

Sheffield United

Premier League • England

Tony Currie names one thing Rhian Brewster needs to find top Sheff Utd form after England U21 brace

Sheffield United striker Rhian Brewster

Tony Currie, widely regarded as Sheffield United’s best ever player, has given his verdict on Rhian Brewster after the Blades striker found the net twice on international duty.

Brewster has made 11 appearances for Sheffield United this season but is yet to score. He is currently being kept out of the starting eleven by fellow striker Oli McBurnie, who has returned to form with four goals in his last five matches.

While McBurnie’s form is great news for Paul Heckingbottom and Sheffield United, it is bad news for Brewster.

The former Liverpool man has little chance of starting up front ahead of McBurnie if the Scot continues to put up top performances.

Brewster did start in the recent 2-0 away win at Preston North End. However, he didn’t get to play in his preferred position as he was selected behind McBurnie and alongside the impressive Iliman Ndiaye.

Brewster is confident in his own ability and recently told a press conference that his first goal of the season ‘is coming’. He added: “It’s only a matter of time before it comes. Once I score one, I feel like I’ll get quite a few.”

This would be a huge boost for the Blades. While they are already top of the Championship and promotion hopefuls, Brewster scoring along with McBurnie and Ndiaye would make them almost unstoppable.

The 22-year-old is currently on international duty with England U21s. He scored twice as the Young Lions beat Italy U21s on Thursday.

Rhian Brewster scores twice in England U21s win

Brewster opened the scoring from the penalty spot in just the third minute. That came after Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher had been fouled in the box.

Brewster doubled England’s advantage just a few minutes later when he dinked the ball over the Italy goalkeeper following a nice through ball from Angel Gomes.

Currie, who won 17 caps for England in the 1970s, has now reacted to Brewster’s struggles with United and his international goals.

Currie reckons Brewster just needs regular starts to allow him to start scoring in the Championship again. The Blades legend was also ‘delighted’ about Brewster’s England U21s brace.

Currie talks striker’s potential return to form

“All Rhian needs is a consistent series of starts and he’ll start putting them away regularly,” Currie said during an interview with the Sheffield Star. “He’s a player, he’s got the ability to do that and, when he had that run not so long back, it was no surprise to see him do it.”

Currie added: “You can’t question or criticise what’s happening at all. So Rhian has got to force his way in and stay there. I’m delighted to see him score those goals for England.”

Heckingbottom, like Currie, will be delighted that Brewster has returned to the scoresheet while away from Shirecliffe. It will boost his confidence massively and could mean he finds the net when United return to Championship action.

But even if Brewster does end his goal drought, he will struggle to make the striker position his own ahead of McBurnie. That’s because the latter has led the line brilliantly in recent weeks and is causing opposition defenders plenty of problems with his strength and movement.

Meanwhile, Chris Basham has sung the praises of one of his United team-mates and compared him to a Premier League great.