Championship expert makes Jarrod Bowen comparison as Sheffield United star delivers ‘big contributions’

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A number of Chris Wilder’s players have benefitted from Sheffield United’s relegation to the Championship this season.

Sheffield United’s poor play-off record means they will be desperate for automatic promotion this term, albeit they face stern competition from Burnley and Leeds. After promotion to the Premier League two seasons ago, they then followed with a dismal top-flight campaign that saw them amass just 16 points.

In fact, it was the third-lowest points tally since the beginning of the Premier League era; only Sunderland in 2005/06 (15 points) and Derby County in 2007/08 (11 points) have fared worse.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	LeedsLeeds	35	22	10	3	72	22	50	76
2	Sheff UtdSheffield Utd	35	23	6	6	50	27	23	73
3	BurnleyBurnley	35	19	14	2	45	10	35	71
4	SunderlandSunderland	35	18	11	6	52	32	20	65
5	CoventryCoventry	35	15	8	12	49	44	5	53
6	West BromWest Brom	35	12	16	7	45	32	13	52

Despite facing a two-point deduction at the start of the campaign, they were always expected to be there or thereabouts this term, in part due to quality operators at their disposal who have been there and done it in the Championship.

However, new signings such as Tyrese Campbell have also been key to their promotion push.

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EFL pundit’s Jarrod Bowen comparison to Tyrese Campbell

The former Stoke City man joined Wilder’s side at Bramall Lane in the summer on a free transfer following his decision not to renew terms with Stoke, as he searched for a new permanent home for the first time as a professional player.

In many ways, with Campbell, there was always undoubted talent there, and it was not too late for his career to get back on track, which Wilder and co. were willing to risk by taking a chance on a poor injury record this summer.

He simply needed a consistent run of games to fully unlock his potential. Campbell has been able to put together the sort of season that made him one of the most exciting young talents in English football when he first emerged at Stoke.

Ali Maxwell of the Not The Top 20 Podcast has detailed his thoughts on Campbell this season at Sheffield United after their 2-1 win over QPR over the weekend. He said: “Tyrese Campbell with an absolute hammer. Big contributions this season from Campbell, and it’s so pleasing to see.

“Because, after leaving Stoke in the summer, I don’t think it was entirely obvious what would happen next for Campbell — which Championship teams would go in for him and whether they would have a good plan for him. I think you have to say that Blades have.

“They have managed his minutes really well. Because he clearly, even now, is struggling with the physical demands of the Championship. That has been an issue for him in the last couple of years of his career.

“I was surprised to see he has only played 1000 minutes this season and only 11.2 90s. It feels like he’s been quite involved for Sheffield United. He has had one hamstring injury, when maybe he went a little over into the red zone.

“But they have kind of wrapped him in cotton wool; and, in doing so, they’ve got the best out of him when he’s been on the pitch. His 26% shot conversion rate is no surprise to me anyway.

“We’ve been covering him on Sky’s segment of him when he was 19 or 20. I remember saying then that I consider him and Jarod Bowen to be two of the best finishers in the league, because of the accuracy and the speed at which they strike the ball.

“He’s always been a deadly finisher. For him to have the fifth-highest shot conversion in the league doesn’t really surprise me. He and Sheffield United deserve credit for how they’ve all settled together and found a way for him to contribute.”

• READ MORE: Who will win the Championship Golden Boot race?

Chris Wilder deserves credit for handling of Tyrese Campbell at Sheffield United

Campbell does not have the most blistering goal record or a particularly impressive injury record but he’s still young and he also has extensive experience at this level. Now, he is proving to be so much more than that as he is a player fulfilling the early potential seen when he broke into the Stoke first-team.

Campbell made 164 appearances for the Potters, scoring 36 goals and notching 21 assists. His most prolific league campaign in a Stoke shirt was 2019/20, where he netted nine goals in 33 appearances – bagging a goal every 180 minutes, on average.

This season, Campbell is set to smash that as he has netted seven times in his 23 league appearances for Sheffield United this season, with just 12 of those performances coming from as a starting striker or wide forward during his time at Bramall Lane.

The risk this summer, regarding his injury record, was especially worth taking given Campbell’s versatility. The 25-year-old is able to operate as a number-nine, a second-striker, or as a right-sided forward. The low-risk of a free transfer appears to have been a masterstroke so far, with Wilder getting the most out of Campbell in nigh on five years.

Time will tell just how smart this move is in the long run for Sheffield United, but Stoke’s loss has become their gain thus far, with the move to the Blades undoubtedly revitalising him. Both Campbell and Sheffield United know the cost of Championship promotion this season.