Chris Wilder facing familiar Rhian Brewster issue at Sheffield United - View | OneFootball

Rhian Brewster is still yet to find the back of the net this season

It's been a bright start to the Championship season for Sheffield United, and they sit in the play-off places after five games.

However, it's not been such a good start for Blades' striker Rhian Brewster, and the 24-year-old is still yet to find the back of the net, despite playing six times for Chris Wilder's side.

The striker has had a torrid couple of years through no fault of his own due to injuries, but when he has been fit he's struggled for goals since making the move to Bramall Lane four years ago from Liverpool for a reported transfer fee of £23.5million.

In fairness to the striker, he's started just two of the six games he's played this season, both coming in the Carabao Cup, but his long-standing goal drought has continued, and this season feels like a familiar tale for the striker at Bramall Lane.

Rhian Brewster has struggled for goals since his move to Sheffield United

Brewster is approaching four years as a Shefffield United player after joining the club in October 2020, and it's fair to say that his time in South Yorkshire hasn't gone as expected.

The 24-year-old has played just 83 games for the Blades, and has scored just five times, his last goal coming at the beginning of October 2022, meaning he's approaching two years without a goal.

Brewster would have been desperate to score a goal at the beginning of this season in a bid to put an end to his goal draught and give himself a platform to build from in the early weeks of the campaign, but unfortunately he hasn't been able to find that elusive goal.

He missed a penalty against Wrexham before seeing a shot deflected in, but it was given as a Lewis Brunt own goal, rather than as Brewster's.

This would have been hugely frustrating for the striker, and had he been able to get off the mark early on, it would have given him confidence, but he's still searching for that goal.

It's clear that Wilder likes Brewster. After all, he was the man who signed him in 2020, and he's given him plenty of chances off the bench, as well as handing him the captain's armband for their trip to Barnsley in the EFL Cup.

After years of struggling with injuries, Brewster is clearly short of confidence, and understandably so. Scoring a goal would be a huge weight off the striker's shoulders, and it can't come soon enough for the 24-year-old.

There's a reason why Brewster was once valued at £23.5million and seen as a potential future Premier League star, and he's shown in the past he can be prolific at Championship level.

He scored 10 goals in 20 appearances for Swansea City during the 2019/20 campaign, helping the club reach the play-offs against the odds, and this run of form is what ultimately led to Sheffield United buying him from Liverpool.

In the four-and-half years that have followed his time in south Wales, Brewster has been ravaged by injuries, and hasn't been able to string a run of games together.

It's been sad to see a player with so much potential and ability unable to perform at his best due to injuries, but Wilder knows what he's capable of, and that's why he's still at the club.

The fact he's trusted to come off the bench in tight league games shows Wilder knows he'll do a job, and you feel that if he can stay injury free, he's still got something to offer the Blades.

His contract at Bramall Lane is up at the end of the season, and as it stands you'd have thought he'd struggle to earn a new one, so he needs a good season to put himself in the shop window for next summer.

If he's playing regularly, it could be just a matter of time before he finds the back of the net, and that one goal may just change everything for the 24-year-old.

There aren't many players who deserve some luck more than Brewster, and everybody at Sheffield United will be desperate to see his near two-year goal drought come to an end in the near future.