John Fleck is sticking around to continue great adventure with Sheffield United

A new deal for United’s midfield schemer was announced prior to kick-off of a Premier League game that saw the reaching of a top-flight milestone greeted with muted applause at the final whistle.

A draw with Brighton saw the Blades crest the mythical 40-point mark in their first season back among the big boys.

Had they left it until May to reach the magic marker, thereby ensuring another season in the top flight no matter how they diced with relegation, it would have been viewed a successful campaign.

That they did it on the penultimate Saturday in February is a measure of how far they have come in the first seven months of their Premier League adventure.

That it all felt a little flat at the end said everything about the rising expectations at Bramall Lane.

That the games involving Chelsea and Tottenham in the lunchtime kick-off, and Manchester United 24 hours later, affected the mood of Unitedites dizzy with the thought of Champions League football next season, it further illustrates how far this team has come, and how far they might yet go.

Fleck would have taken that three-and-half years ago. The free transfer signing from Coventry began life as a Blade with three successive defeats to start the 2016-17 League One campaign.

Neither he nor Wilder, who was enduring a tough start to life at the helm of his favourite club, could have envisaged what was to follow.

“I don’t think anyone three or four years ago would have imagined we would be where we are now,” said Fleck of a rise that has encompassed two promotions in three years, a breakthrough into the Scotland team for him personally, and the Blades’ fearless start to life among the elite.

“From the first day the manager took over, take away those first three league games, it’s always been going in the right direction – and, thankfully, we’ve still going that way.

“It’s all down to hard work and a bit of luck sometimes to get you through the sticky patches. But we’re here on merit.

“At the start of the season, if anyone had have said 40 points at this stage everyone would have bit your hand off.

“It shows you how well we’ve done. We’re in this position now and we’re not looking behind, we’ve just got to take it a game at a time, keep working hard and see where it takes us.”

The mood among both Wilder and Fleck post-match was very much a case of ‘focus on the next game’, ‘let’s keep this going’.

If anything, reaching the 40-point landmark was as subdued as Brexit day. It had been coming for so long there was an air of inevitability about it. Now free of that survival signpost, United can concentrate on finishing as high as possible, whether that be in a Champions League or Europa League qualifying spot.

If Europe is their final destination then they need to be better than they were against Brighton, because Chelsea, Spurs and Man United will have an extra gear in the race for the top four – or five if Manchester City’s ban by UEFA is upheld. United applied the pressure against Brighton but lacked the final pass, the killer touch.

Even their goal on 26 minutes was a bolt out of the blue.

Pressure was building and reached a crescendo when Enda Stevens found his overlapping centre-back in Jack O’Connell tearing down his inside right. Stevens fed him and O’Connell’s cross was diverted out for a corner.

Two corner-kicks later, Brighton failed to deal with Ollie Norwood’s cross and Stevens lashed a volley into the top corner from just inside the angle of the penalty area.

“He’s not done that for a while, but what a strike,” laughed Fleck.

There were no United smiles four minutes later. Aaron Mooy’s free-kick to the back post was knocked down by Adam Webster and Neil Maupey nipped in front of Dean Henderson to nod the ball home. Too easy.

From there, United created the better chances but could not take any of them. Oli McBurnie missed two because he failed to get a clean contact on either second-half opportunity.

January’s club record signing Sander Berge, making his third successive start, needed a better touch when Billy Sharp played him through.

Fleck was United’s most influential player, his crosses from the inside left channel always asking questions of the Brighton defence.

The trouble is, Wilder’s men did not present enough variety in their examination of the Seagulls’ towering centre-backs.

“We played well, we just never had any clear-cut chances but gave it everything we could,” concluded Fleck.

It left Sheffield United looking out for Manchester United’s result yesterday, curious as to how it might leave them in the race for the Champions League. No wonder John Fleck is sticking around.