Sheffield United have been dealt a blow regarding the fitness of Ben Osborn ahead of their upcoming Championship fixture.

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In recent comments cited by Yorkshire Live, Slavisa Jokanovic revealed that the 27-year-old missed the Blades' 2-2 draw with Preston North End on Tuesday due to illness, with the midfielder having missed two days' training in the build-up to the match.

Speaking shortly after the midweek fixture, the 53-year-old said: "He is ill, he hasn't been working [on Monday and Tuesday] with us."

Jokanovic will be gutted

While the severity of Osborn's illness has not been revealed, considering the former England U20 international had been unable to train with the club earlier this week, it would very much appear as if the midfielder is a doubt for United's clash with Hull City on Saturday, something that will undoubtedly leave Jokanovic gutted.

Indeed, while the Blades have not exactly enjoyed the best of starts to life back in the Championship, Osborn has nevertheless impressed over his five league appearances for the club this season, with the £1.8m-rated man having scored two goals, as well as taking an average of 1.2 shots and making 0.4 key passes per game.

These returns have seen the former Nottingham Forest gem earn an average SofaScore match rating of 7.22, ranking him as Jokanovic's fifth-best performer in the league so far this term.

As such, should the midfielder indeed be ruled out of this weekend's game, it would undoubtedly dent the Serbian manager's chances of achieving a positive result against the Tigers, with the 53-year-old desperately lacking any real depth in the wide attacking areas of his squad.

In other news: Jokanovic has found Sheff United's new Lundstrum in "powerful" £6.3m-rated gem