'World's his oyster' - Iliman Ndiaye hailed by Sheffield United teammates after opposition "scared" claim made

United were not at their best for most of the contest but made the long journey back to Sheffield in the early hours of Wednesday morning in buoyant mood, after Ndiaye's early second-half strike sent them to third in the Championship table ahead of this weekend's big game against leaders Burnley.

After going six games without a win and dropping to fifth, United are now a point behind second-placed Blackburn Rovers with a game in hand and Ndiaye's form in front of goal has been key to their success so far, the 22-year-old scoring his eighth of the season so far in front of jubilant away supporters at Ashton Gate.

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"I've said it all along and I keep saying it, how good he really is," said Chris Basham after the game, which saw him pick up Sky's man of the match award. "And every fan is seeing it now.

"Every opposition player is scared of him and we're scared of him in training. On the pitch we just want to get him the ball. He's been fantastic and he's getting the goals. I wrote at the start of the season how effective he would be and he's showing that in abundance on the pitch."

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As Ndiaye's strike partner, Oli McBurnie perhaps sometimes has the best view in the house as the World Cup-bound youngster terrorises opposition defences and has reaped the rewards of their promising partnership too, scoring seven times in his last 12 outings in a Blades shirt.

"He's a pleasure to play with," was McBurnie's verdict on Ndiaye. "After the first game we played together this season, a couple of my friends asked me if we'd played a lot together before and we never really had. It was just one of those things.

"With some players you have an instant connection and know what each other are going to do. I say I just give him the ball sometimes and he makes me look good! No, he's a pleasure to play with and you can see the ability, he's unbelievably talented.

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"He's quietly confident within himself but the world's his oyster. I've played with some good players in my time and ability-wise, he's right up there. He's a great kid too, humble and down to earth and grounded and he's got everything you need to be top, top class."

Ndiaye's purple patch is certainly coming at a good time, with a possible - and increasingly-probable - World Cup experience on the horizon. After making his debut for Aliou Cissé's men, Ndiaye has gone from strength to strength and any game-time in Qatar would cap a meteoric rise for a youngster who only signed his first professional contract last September.

United are now keen to extend those terms, although boss Paul Heckingbottom recently admitted he didn't expect anything to "be done soon" after cryptically reminding reports that "everyone's got to want it to happen".

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