Sheffield United have not ruled out the possibility of taking Simon Walton on board if he makes a full recovery from his knee injury.

The Plymouth man is ruled out for the majority of the season having suffered the injury playing for the Blades at Mansfield last weekend, effectively ending any chance of playing for United during his year long loan.

Kevin Blackwell said: "It is a massive blow to the lad, missing a whole campaign because of one tackle and we knew straight away that it was a serious one.

"We have spoken to him although at the moment there is no consoling him, but he is young enough to come back from it and we won't dismiss him.

"He is contracted to us for this season so we are responsible for his wages, but right now the important issue is to sort out details of his rehabilitation.

"I didn't want to bring too many loan players in, maybe just one or two, and Simon would have helped us in that regard because, like Johnny Ertl, he can cover more than one position."