Shelton ... impressive showing for Sheffield United against Manchester United on Tuesday. - file

NATIONAL STRIKER Luton Shelton has been getting some seriously colourful reviews following his impressive showing for Sheffield United against English Premiership leaders Manchester United at Old Trafford on Tuesday.

"The Red Devils were never in danger of not securing the three points, but Neil Warnock may have unearthed a gem as Luton Shelton caused the Premiership leaders' defence untold problems on his full debut," a match report on globally acclaimed sports network SkySports proclaimed.

"The Jamaican was a thorn in the side of the home side and was denied a clear-cut penalty, but The Blades ultimately lacked the craft to find a way past Tomasz Kuszczak," SkySports continued.

Sheffield United, battling to avoid relegation, lost the contest 0-2 to goals scored by Michael Carrick and Wayne Rooney, but Shelton's dominating performance, which saw him miss a few chances and had shouts turned down for a clear-cut penalty off a tackle from Argentine centre-back Gabriel Heinze, ensured that he was the most heavily featured player in the report pubilshed on the well-respected site.

Fouled

It added: "Shelton was asked to plough a lone furrow in attack, an unenviable task for any forward at Old Trafford, but he showed a real appetite early on when dashing down the left and cutting inside before being fouled on the edge of the box by Paul Scholes."

Further mentions read: "... the home side's makeshift centre-halves, Wes Brown and Gabriel Heinze, halted Shelton on the edge of their own box more by luck than judgement.

"... Shelton was determined to impress and he fizzed a shot into the side netting after galloping on to a pass from Kazim-Richards (Colin).

"... The Blades, and Shelton in particular, continued to threaten and he passed up a gilt-edged chance on 53 minutes. The Jamaican showed great awareness tocushion a pass from Kilgallon (Matthew) out of his feet and away from Brown, but spoiled the build-up work by scooping his effort over the bar.

"... Shelton sped away from Brown and dashed into the area before being felled by Heinze. The Blades were convinced a penalty should have been the reward for Shelton's endeavour, but referee Rob Styles waved away their fierce protests."

Skilful

A former Harbour View Football Club star, now 21 years of age, Shelton joined Sheffield United from Swedish club Helsingborgs in January through a 1.85 million deal.

Following Monday's showing, the speedy and skilful Jamaican's former club boss at Helsingborgs, Stuart Baxter, told BBC Sport he could become a "firm favourite" at the EPL club.

"If Luton makes the progress I think he can, he'll be a firm favourite at Bramall Lane," Baxter told BBC Sport. "He's very quick, nimble, has good feet and a bit of a trick, and I'm sure that's what caught Neil Warnock's (Sheffield manager) eye."

Baxter added: "Luton's a quiet lad, and Neil may have to put his arm around him now and then, but I never had five minutes trouble with him."

Commenting on his slim frame and other facets of his game, Baxter noted in the BBC Sport interview that there was room for improvement but explained it would come with exposure.

"He won't be knocking people out of the way, which is a part of the game he has got to build on. That and his core strength," explained Baxter. "And his goals-to-chances ratio is not as high as it should be, but that's an area United will be working on and with experience that will come."

He added: "He's good when facing defenders and when he's behind them, but he has to work a bit on receiving the ball under pressure and bringing other people into the game - but we're getting close to talking about the perfect striker in the perfect world now.

"He's still only a young player to be playing at the top level."

Shelton got a rating of 6.62 out of 10 as Sheffield's best player in Monday's BBC SportPlayer Rater poll.