Sam McCallum

McCallum spent years bouncing between clubs on loan before Sheffield United gave him a settled run in their side, and that patience shows in how rarely he panics under pressure. He prefers to shepherd a winger toward the touchline rather than dive into a rash challenge, backing his recovery pace to cover any mistake. That approach has made him one of the more difficult full backs in the division to isolate one on one.

The tension is whether a defender built on patience can also provide enough going forward from a position that increasingly demands it. McCallum has chipped in with goals from deep, which suggests there is more end product in his locker than his reputation for solid defending would imply. Whether Sheffield United ask him to push higher up the pitch says plenty about how much they trust him going forward.