Sheffield United have had their fair share of problems this season.

The Blades are yet to win a game in the Premier League and they’ve been without two of their best players for a prolonged period, with Jack O’Connell and John Fleck both being sidelined with injuries as of late.

Unfortunately, these injuries have coincided with a number of their other players losing form, and one man who lost his spot in the team on Saturday was Ollie Norwood.

The Northern Irishman was replaced by Ethan Ampadu in the midfield, and it’s fair to say that the Welsh youngster put in a fine performance.

Ampadu added some much-needed defensive grit into the midfield, winning three tackles and making two interceptions, while he was also solid going forward by completing almost 90% of his passes.

It shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that the youngster has shone in this position as he’s been brilliant throughout his Blades career so far, whether that be at centre-back or in midfield.

His technical ability was highlighted from an early age, with Chris Coleman speaking very highly of him back in 2017:

"He's very similar to David Luiz. Look at young Ampadu's style of play; he's a stylish centre-back or holding midfielder,” Coleman was quoted as saying by The Sun (via SportsMole).

Ok, Chris Wilder may have watched his side lose at the weekend, but there’s no real shame in being turned over by the reigning Premier League champions who amassed 99 points last season, and a 2-1 scoreline is more than respectable.

The narrow defeat has certainly given the Yorkshire outfit a platform to build on in the coming weeks, and if they want to keep up the good performances they may want to put Ampadu in for Norwood on a more full-time basis.