Shelton ... Shone for Sheffield United against Manchester United earlier in the season. - file

Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter

DREAMS OF playing in England's top tier finally came true for national striker Luton Shelton this past season.However, they vanished just as quickly following the relegation of his team, Sheffield United, on the final day of the season.

Needing only a draw to survive, the Blades failed in their bid to stay in the top flight as they went down 1-2 at home to Wigan. In fact, the Reggae Boy never even got the chance to take part in his team's last hurrah, as while being included in the squad for the fixture, he was left out of the final 16 ahead of the game.

"It was very disappointing because we were at a stage that all we really needed was a draw to stay up," Shelton told The Gleaner.

"Right now it's quite depressing because I was in the Premiership, and I would have liked to stay there," explained Shelton, who was not only frustrated with being left out of the team's final game, but with a lack of playing time in general.

Got just two starts

In fact, since signing a 2 million contract with the team from Swedish side Helsingborg back in January, the striker has managed just two starts and come on as a substitute in four other games.

This was despite major injuries to forwards Danny Webber and key man Rob Hulse. The striker, who had an impressive showing against Premier-ship champions Manchester United earlier in the season, is now keen to show his abilities in the Champion-ship League.

"I'll just keep going out there and giving it my best," Shelton said. "I was doing well in Sweden and I thought that when I came to England I would have got more consistent playing time because of my contract," he said.

"I think that if I had more playing time I would have been more confident and able to get a few goals," he said.