Sydie Peck has never been a player short of belief in his own abilities - but it will be encouaging for Sheffield United to see that the young midfielder still sees room for improvement in his own game despite Chris Wilder joking: “He’ll be disappointed not to be in the senior England squad!”

Peck, 22, has justified his reputation as one of the most promising young players in the Championship this season, not least with a stunning first-half hat-trick at Preston North End recently.

He linked up with the England U21s over the international break and his future is once again in the spotlight after a report this week suggesting Newcastle United and Sunderland have joined his growing list of admirers.

A number of clubs were already monitoring Peck, including Brentford and West Ham United, with United’s stance that they are under no pressure to sell any of their prized assets in January.

And when asked what areas Peck can improve, boss Chris Wilder said: “There are always things. Consistency, decision making. I think sometimes he can play quicker. But he's a good player, and he's on his way to forging a good career.

“Sydie is Sydie, and he drives us all. He's a brilliant character to work with, and everybody's delighted that he's playing well and contributing with some goals as well. But I'm not one of those that think there's a certain age where somebody stops learning.

“There are always different ways of playing, and different ways teams set up, and different ways teams are coached and managed. So Jordan [Ayew] and Pat [Bamford] are, I should imagine, saying that they’re doing different things to what they've had to do in the past.

“But it’s feet on the ground for Syd, and keep improving. He knows that consistency is the key. That’s what the best players have, week in, week out. They might have a little dip during a game, but consistently playing well for young players is the key to the pathway for success.”

Understandably, Peck was not shy about talking about his hat-trick at Deepdale and that self-belief is something United are keen to encourage rather than knock out of their players.

“Sydie will be disappointed not to have got in Thomas Tuchel’s England squad!” Wilder smiled. “So I’m all over that. You want ambition, you want drive. You want players to play at the highest level.

“We're never going to be that arrogant side and if I smelt that or saw that in any of our players, I think you understand what's coming to them. But also, we have to stick our chests out.

“We have to do that and say: ‘I'm a good player, and we're a decent team.’ But you have to back that up with performances individually and as a team. And that's the target for us all.