Sheffield United: Things turned sour for Leicester City export at Bramall Lane - View | OneFootball

Dean Hammond's time at Sheffield United ended in disaster and ultimately ended his career.

Sheffield United will want to forget their 2015/16 campaign by all means.

The Blades had previously become accustomed to top flight or second tier football, but the early to mid-2010s saw the club struggle to climb out of League One, season after season. Sheffield United spent six long years consecutively in the third tier and were finding it incredibly difficult to earn promotion.

They reached the play-offs on three occasions, but failed every single time. However, the 2015/16 campaign was their worst by a mile. Following a fifth-place finish in the league, as well as a shock run to the EFL Cup semi-finals, the Blades were set to go again in League One, with promotion once again on their minds.

Nigel Adkins was the man at the helm, having earned promotion out of the third tier on three occasions with two different clubs beforehand. His time with Sheffield United was a spell to forget though, as they finished 11th in League One, which was their lowest league position since 1983, and he was subsequently sacked.

The squad for the 2015/16 season performed well under par, but one player in particular will be remembered by Sheffield United for all the wrong reasons.

Dean Hammond's loan spell with the Blades

Dean Hammond was a real experienced head when he arrived at Bramall Lane in the summer of 2015, having featured for Brighton, Colchester United, Southampton and Leicester City. His EFL experience was unrivalled, and he had even earned a dozen Premier League appearances in the 2014/15 season at Leicester.

Despite this, he had fallen out of favour at the King Power Stadium and was sent out on loan to Sheffield United in League One, which would have seemed like an incredible signing on paper. Hammond, of course, was very familiar with Adkins, as the pair had previously won promotions from League One and the Championship at Southampton.

Unfortunately, they were unable to replicate that success at Bramall Lane, and instead endured a season to forget. Hammond was a regular in the middle of the park for Sheffield United, but his performances were not up to the supporters' standards and the club finished 11th in League One.

Even by his own admission, Hammond did not play his best football with the Blades.

Speaking on the Sheff United Way podcast, he admitted: "Individually, I struggled for performances, there's no hiding away from that and I take full responsibility.

"Mentally, it affected me. My character is and always has been never to run away from anything. Face up to things and if you're not doing well, do something about it and change people's opinions.

"I didn't do that, and I have to live with that. And it took me a long time to get past that guilt.

The experienced midfielder had spent the 2015/16 season on loan with the Blades, but there was an option in the deal for him to make the move permanent at the end of the season, which he activated.

Adkins had just been sacked by Sheffield United after a poor league finish, and in came Chris Wilder, which was the beginning of the end for Hammond.

Deciding that the midfielder was not going to be a part of his plans, Wilder placed Hammond on the transfer list, despite the option for a permanent deal recently being activated.

Hammond's decision to activate that option did not go down too well with Blades supporters after some poor performances last season, but now the issue was that Wilder did not want to keep him around.

By early July, the midfielder had left Sheffield United by mutual consent, which effectively ended his career as he never played professionally again.