3 Sheffield United players that must save Bramall Lane career before January - ft Tom Cannon | OneFootball

FLW takes a look at three Blades stars that must make an impression on Chris Wilder before the winter window arrives.

Sheffield United look to be facing a long Championship season ahead, as Chris Wilder appears to be tasked with guiding the Blades to safety at this moment in time rather than to Premier League promotion.

It's been a start to the 2025/26 campaign that nobody saw coming at Bramall Lane.

With Sheffield United running back to Wilder after Ruben Selles' appointment was a complete disaster, Blades are currently rooted to the foot of the Championship table with just three points taken from their opening nine games.

Whilst the leading pack are pulling ever further out of sight as long as their struggles continue, United are in desperate need of players to start stepping up and to start turning the tide.

However, the upcoming winter window may also prove to be a vital few weeks in the club's season, with it presenting the opportunity for Wilder to strengthen his squad sufficiently to steer them clear of the drop, whilst also enabling them the chance to raise some crucial transfer funds through player sales too.

Football League World takes a look at three Blades players who must make an impression on Wilder between now and the turn of the year, or risk seeing their Sheffield United stints come to an end

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Tom Davies

Signing for Sheffield United in the summer of 2023 after his contract with Everton had expired, Tom Davies looked to be a highly shrewd capture by Blades as a free agent.

The 27-year-old central midfielder inked a three-year contract at Bramall Lane that summer, meaning his current deal is set to expire at the end of this season.

As such, the fact that he's only been able to make two Championship appearances so far this season, having not been named in the other seven matchday squads due to a fitness issue stemming back to pre-season, is surely of major concern to him regarding his long-term future at the club.

The former England youth international has a long and troublesome injury record too, but despite that, he's still made over 160 Premier League appearances in his career, having broken into the Everton first-team picture a decade ago.

However, since signing for Sheffield United, he's only been able to make 27 appearances in all competitions in what is now his third full season with the club, and unless he can break into Wilder's side and make a big enough impression over the next couple of months, then he looks sure to be a prime candidate to be moved on from in January.

He has been able to impress in his first two appearances of the season, however, so should that continue, he may well yet do enough to earn himself a new deal.

Tom Cannon

There is a growing fear around Bramall Lane that Tom Cannon may go down as one of the club's most expensive ever transfer misses.

Signed from Leicester City in January for a reported fee of £10m, the 22-year-old striker has just one goal in 27 total appearances to his name as a Sheffield United player.

A Republic of Ireland international, Cannon hasn't been firing at the rate he once did whilst on loan with both Preston North End and Stoke City respectively, as he bagged eight goals in 21 appearances for the Lilywhites in 2022/23, before scoring 11 times in 25 games for the Potters during the first half of last season.

He's so far appeared in all nine of Blades' Championship games so far this term, but has started just two of those, failing to register a single goal contribution in the process.

With the likes of Danny Ings, Tyrese Campbell, Ryan One and Louie Marsh all for company at the centre-forward position, he could well be viewed as an ideal fundraising opportunity for the club in January if his form doesn't improve before then.

There will likely be a host of other Championship clubs that would be willing to strike a deal with United for his services - Stoke City or Preston for example could be willing to take a chance on him again - given his previous exploits in the division, whether that be via a loan deal or on a permanent basis.

Regardless, it's beginning to feel like this transfer just wasn't meant to be, and perhaps the opportunity to cut their losses or at least hand him the opportunity to rekindle his goalscoring form elsewhere on a temporary basis, could prove very tempting for Blades come the winter window.

Jamie Shackleton

Jamie Shackleton hasn't enjoyed the start to his Sheffield United career that he would've wanted since joining the club from Leeds United in the summer of last year.

The versatile 26-year-old defender was only able to make 12 Championship appearances for Blades last season thanks to an injury problem that he picked up in December.

He was able to make the bench in United's play-off semi-final first leg win away at Bristol City last term, but has yet to feature for the club this season.

However, in a recent behind the scenes training video posted to Sheffield United's official YouTube channel at the beginning of October, Shackleton can be seen back on the grass and training with the first-team squad.

That would suggest that a return to action isn't far away at all for the defender, who could push the likes of Chiedozie Ogbene and Femi Siriki for minutes on the right side of defence, whilst also having the ability to play in central midfield too.

But, with some stern competition in both of those areas, Shackleton may find it tough to establish an important role under Wilder, and so January could present a natural opportunity for him to seek a move elsewhere for more game time.